


Practise Makes Perfect

by Little_Frog



Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: Everyone's in their mid-20's, Fluff, General Awkwardness, M/M, Motorbikes, Nerds in Love, Physiotherapist/Athlete AU, Slow Build, flatmates
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-02-05
Updated: 2016-09-26
Packaged: 2018-05-18 09:08:00
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 16
Words: 26,955
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5920132
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Little_Frog/pseuds/Little_Frog
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Where Suga is a physiotherapist and Daichi is a very regular patient, though not on purpose, not always.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

‘Ok, so we’ll see you back here in two weeks, Mrs Yoshida. Remember to keep your ankle elevated when you’re sitting down, and if there’s any more swelling just give us a call.’

Suga smiled warmly at the elderly lady, holding the practice door open to let her through.

            ‘Thank you ever so much deary, I just hope this regime works better than the last one.’

The lady turned and grasped one of Suga’s hands with her two roughened, wrinkled ones and smiled an almost toothless grin up at him. Suga smiled back.

            ‘I’m positive it will ma’am, and like I said, any trouble at all, just call us straight back. Take care walking home today too.’

            ‘Oh I will, thank you again, Doctor.’ She dropped Suga’s hand and smiled again before turning away and hobbling out of the surgery exit. As the door swung closed behind her, Suga breathed a sigh of relief and returned to his practice room. He shut the door behind him and reached both arms up into the air in a long stretch, humming contentedly as four loud cracks sounded from his back and shoulders.

            ‘Thank God. What a day.’

Shaking the remaining stiffness from his arms, Suga flopped down into his desk chair and picked up the old cord phone. Holding it to his ear he pressed the sequence for the reception.

            ‘Hi Kiyoko, I’ve just seen to Mrs Yoshida, yes, yeah, is it just the one patient left for today? Right, okay. Sure, send him up. Thanks.’

Suga set down the handset and wheeled himself over to the sink in the corner where he quickly washed his hands. Shaking the excess water back into the sink, he grabbed a towel and dried them thoroughly; winter brought cold weather, and cold weather brought dry skin, which, as a physiotherapist, wasn’t the best thing to have.

            Brushing a few stray strands of silvery hair behind his ear, Suga opened up the patient list on his computer and clicked on the information that the receptionist had just sent through. His next and last patient for the day was Mr Sawamura; a young man who needed physio for a minor leg injury suffered while playing sports.

_Oh good, an easy one to end the day with._

Suga yawned loudly and leaned back in his chair. Closing his tired eyes for a brief moment he considered whether he could be bothered to cook something for that night’s dinner, or if he should just nip to the takeout on the corner instead. Not that it would be the third time that week, not at all. He was sure Sooty, his three-year-old tabby wouldn’t complain at leftover takeaway chicken for another night. He could finally get into that new book then, too. It’d been sitting on his bedside table for about three weeks and the bookmark hadn’t moved from page seven for the entire time. He was suddenly interrupted from his thoughts by four, short knocks on the door.

            ‘Come in.’ He half shouted, hurriedly sitting up and straightening his shirt. As the door began to open, Suga twisted round in his chair and put on his default ‘what can I help you with today?’ face.

His expression, however, was wiped away faster than he could blink when the man at the door entered the room and took a seat on the rickety red chair opposite Suga. He was, without a doubt, one of, if not _the_ most attractive man Suga had ever seen in his life. The comment about a sports injury made complete sense, this guy had the stereotypical build of an athlete; tall, broad shoulders, and, as Suga looked down, some _very_ nice legs.

            ‘He-‘ Suga’s voice came out far too high-pitched to be normal, and he coughed violently for a second before trying again.

            ‘Are you alright?’ the man asked, and the concerned look on his face almost gave Suga a small heart attack.

_Oh my God._

            ‘Yes, yeah, sorry. Just a bit of a dry throat for a second there.’ Suga laughed awkwardly and turned to his computer. He opened up the man’s patient page again with a shaky click and took a deep breath.

            ‘So, Mr Sawamura, how can I help you today?’

This was going to be a very long fifteen minutes.

 

 

 


	2. Chapter 2

           ‘You can’t hide under there forever.’

           ‘You don’t under _stand_. If you’d been there you’d know. _Ugh._ And he has another appointment with me next week.’

Suga was currently half buried under the cushions of his old, blue sofa, re-evaluating his life and wondering whether or not to ask Kiyoko to switch his patient list with another practitioner’s. His flatmate, long time friend, and walking pain in the backside, Oikawa Tooru was lounging in front of the television, DVD cases spread across the carpet in front of him.

            ‘Well, you could just do what any normal person would and ask him out.’

Suga surfaced from the mound of pillows and regarded Oikawa with an exasperated expression.

            ‘Are you mad!? How stupid would that sound? ‘Oh, sorry about your busted knee, would you like to get dinner sometime?”

            ‘Hey!’ Oikawa looked up from the DVDs and put his hand to his heart in mock hurt, ‘I am by _far_ the most knowledgeable person in this room when it comes to swaying the human heart. I’m just saying, that’s what I’d do.’

            ‘And that right there is exactly why I’m not going to do it.’ Suga let out a frustrated whine and shoved his face back into the sofa.

            ‘What about… this one!’ Oikawa held up one of the films for Suga to see.

            ‘ _Shrek_? Are you kidding me? How would watching that help me in _any_ way?’

Oikawa frowned in thought.

           ‘Well, it’s a love story, in a way, isn’t it? Maybe you could get some tips.’ He dropped the case back onto the pile. ‘Oh, oh what about this one?’ he shouted, holding up a copy of ‘ _The Day the Earth Stood Still’_. Suga gave him a hard stare, got up from the sofa, and began to leave the room.

            ‘Suga! Where are you going!’ Oikawa sat up quickly, ‘there’s _Tangled_ , though I know you’ve seen that like a billion times but still!’

            ‘I’m going to bed before you can come up with another plan to rectify my love life troubles and accidentally put me in an early grave.’ Suga left, closing the living room door behind him and making his way across the hall to his bedroom.

            ‘Well if you ever need any advice, you know you can always count on your best, and wisest friend!’ came Oikawa’s voice from behind the door.

            ‘Sorry,’ Suga shouted back, ‘I don’t know anyone who fits that description.’ He chuckled to himself at Oikawa’s pained whine, and knew that his friend was probably lying back on the floor, surrounded by the evidence of his failure with that ridiculous pout on his face.

            He was still smiling to himself as he brushed his teeth, and still when he finally crawled into bed with his book. Sooty jumped up and slowly padded towards him. She nudged his hand for attention and he scratched the top of her head slowly.

            ‘I’m such an idiot, Soots. I can’t even deal with one good looking man. Though in my defence, he is _very_ good looking. He has a nice voice too. He could do audio books, I bet, that kind of voice.’ Suga let the book drop open to his side as he leaned back against the headboard and sighed. In all honesty, he wasn’t totally dreading the next appointment. He just hoped he would be able to control himself better the next time around when he had to ask the man to lie back on the surgery bed so he could examine his legs. 

           ‘Oh my _God.’_

Suga ran a hand down his face and groaned in embarrassment when he replayed the scene from memory. He had gone so red, so quickly. And when he had to ask him to stretch too…

            ‘Jesus _Christ,_ I can’t do this.’

Sooty moved to the end of the bed and curled up, content for the night. Suga reached over and clicked off the lamp. Book forgotten, he shuffled as far under the duvet as he could without suffocating and let out a heavy breath through his nose.  

            _I am_ so _screwed._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading! Again, every comment is appreciated :)


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry this took a bit longer! I graduate this summer so my workload is ridiculous at the moment. Comments are lovely as always :)

‘Ok, so, hold it there for ten seconds, then swap and do the same with the left leg and tell me which is easier.’

            Suga typed away at his computer, pointedly not looking at the man lying on the bed behind him.

            ‘Hmm, definitely the right one,’ came the deep voice, ‘it doesn’t hurt as much as the left either.’

            Suga turned back around. It was their third meeting, and he had finally managed to start controlling his blush.

            ‘All right, you can sit back up now. I’ll just have to check your knees against how they were last week.’

            As he heard the man shuffle upright Suga took a deep breath and pulled out a paper ruler from his desk drawer. Gathering all his courage he concentrated on making his facial expression as normal as possible, and turned around.

            ‘Shall I roll up my trousers again?’

            ‘If you don’t mind.’ Suga steadied his shaking hands and wheeled his chair closer. ‘I’m going to have to draw a couple of lines on your skin this time, if that’s ok? It’s just to measure the movement of your kneecaps and see if the physio has been working properly.’

            ‘No problem,’ came the reply, as Suga watched him roll up his trousers above the knee.

Suga leaned forward and placed the paper over the man’s left knee, humming to himself in thought. He took a blue biro pen out of his shirt pocket and drew a small line either side of the kneecap, measuring them against the ruler. Suga mentally congratulated himself on staying so calm, that is, until he moved onto the other man’s right knee. As soon as he tried to press the pen onto his skin, the man above him honest to God _giggled._

            ‘Aha- I’m sorry,’ he laughed, ‘I guess I’m a bit ticklish there.’

Suga immediately wished that every powerful force in existence could suddenly appear in the room and strike him down dead. He _knew_ his face was redder than the time one summer when he’d accidentally fallen asleep on the apartment balcony for four hours. Oikawa had called him Red Skull for two weeks.

            ‘Uh, Doctor Sugawara?’

Suga jolted out of his embarrassment-induced daydream and looked up at his patient, who was definitely not where he had been a minute ago. The man had leaned down towards him, and the adorably concerned look on his face (that was now far, far too close) was enough to stop Suga’s heart instantly.

            ‘Oh!’ Suga jumped backwards in his chair, and felt something in his chest twist painfully when the other man looked slightly taken aback, ‘Sorry, I must have zoned out for a moment there, ha… ha.’

There was a drawn out, awkward silence as Suga tried to get himself under control.

            ‘Right,’ he tried again, ‘I’m, uh, sorry about… tickling you,’ _OhmyGod just let me die,_ ‘is it okay if I try again? I’ll be quick I promise.’

The man nodded and laughed again, but this time it was deeper. Suga felt the vibration of it through where his hand rested lightly on the man’s right knee.

            ‘Okay,’ Suga said after a moment, leaning back in his chair and smiling at the patient, ‘from what I can see, the exercises I’ve given you are working as they should. Just make sure not to strain yourself when you’re playing sports and wear supports if possible. Other than that, make an appointment with Kiyoko on your way out and I’ll see you next week.’

The man got up to leave, shaking Suga’s had as he did so, and Suga definitely did not feel a small section of his brain short-circuit at the contact.

            ‘Thanks a lot, Doctor Sugawara, though, erm, do you know how long it’s going to take until I’ll be able to play properly again?’

_There it is._

Suga let go of the man’s hand and scratched the back of his head in thought. He knew that, like many of the other patients, Mr Sawamura would eventually be able to stop coming to the practice, though he constantly tried to put the thought out of his mind.

            ‘If you keep improving the way you are, then probably not that long, to be honest. Four months, perhaps. Three if you’re lucky.’ Suga looked down as he spoke, not wanting to meet the other man’s gaze.

            ‘Oh.’

The almost sad tone of the man’s voice made Suga look up, and he could have sworn that he looked a little upset. But that was probably just Suga.

            ‘Well,’ the man smiled suddenly, all trace of the past concern gone, ‘if I’m going to be coming here for the next few months, you should just call me Daichi, my friends do, ‘Mr Sawamura’ is a bit too formal for me,’ he laughed again and Suga did nothing to restrain the wide grin that spread across his face.

            ‘Oh, y-yeah. All right. You can call me Suga, if you like. I mean, if you want to, of course. Don’t feel like you have to though, I don’t mind-‘ Suga’s nervous rambling was cut off by another chuckle from the man.

            ‘That’d be nice.’ Daichi smiled at him, and Suga knew the blush on his face was extremely obvious.

            ‘O-okay.’

            ‘I’ll- I’ll see you next week then, Suga, and thank you.’

The door swung closed behind Daichi, leaving Suga to wallow in his own embarrassment once again, though he could have sworn that right before he turned to leave, the man had his very own blush dusted across his cheeks.


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I think this is the longest chapter yet? The response to the last one was great, so I decided, hell, I'll write more. And it ended up being more that I'd planned. Oh well, I hope you enjoy reading it! And I bet you can't guess who Daichi's friend is gonna be, it's not obvious at all...  
> Another note: I know the actual physio scenes are a bit short, but I'm basing them on my own experiences from about five years ago after a tennis accident so I can't remember all that much!

 

‘Oo haff to afk ‘im out!’

‘We’ve been over this-‘ Suga made an exaggerated show of pretending to count in his head, ‘exactly seven times in the past week.’

Oikawa swallowed his mouthful of popcorn and threw a piece at Suga’s head. They had been lounging around on the sofa, halfway through the second Lord of the Rings when Oikawa decided that now would be the opportune moment to hold an intervention of sorts.

            ‘But if you don’t ask, you might miss the greatest opportunity of your lifetime! What kind of stuff does he like? What sport does he play, you must know that!’

Suga rubbed his forehead where the offending popcorn kernel had hit him, and ignored Oikawa’s persistent questioning in favour of watching Gandalf fell several orcs with one strike.

            ‘Suuuugaaaa, you’re not even listening.’ Oikawa put down the bowl and leaned across to the coffee table for the remote.

‘Hey!’ Suga’s protest was cut short as Oikawa turned off the TV and dropped the remote out of reach.

            ‘You can see your beloved wizard again when you’ve listened to me.’ Oikawa sat up and crossed his legs. He regarded Suga with a stern expression. ‘Why don’t,’ he paused, and Suga raised an eyebrow, ‘you invite him…’ Oikawa trailed off and looked away to the side.

            ‘Invite him where?’ Suga asked slowly, half curious and half scared of what his friend was about to suggest

            ‘You could invite him… to play volleyball with us on the weekends.’

A silence fell upon the room akin to as if one of the men had just been given a life sentence. Sooty, who had up until this point, been sleeping peacefully in front of the television, seemed to sense the change in atmosphere and quickly fled from the room.

            ‘Are. You. In _sane_?’ Suga asked, utterly exasperated, ‘How am I supposed to ask him that without sounding like a creeper?’

            ‘Aha!’ Oikawa jumped to his feet, the tension dissipating along with his shout, ‘So you’re _considering it_!’

Suga covered his face with his hands and hung his head, letting out a groan of frustration.

            ‘It’s not, I mean, it’s not a bad idea, I guess,’ he commented, voice muffled behind his hands, ‘but it’s hardly professional to ask one of my patients to come and play volleyball with me in his free time.’

Oikawa hummed in thought and began to pace around the room.

            ‘You could say it’s part of the physio; that you think gentle exercise would speed up the healing process. It wouldn’t have to be just him; he could bring a friend along too.’ Oikawa huffed in thought and crossed his arms over his chest. Suga looked up and noticed the little crinkle above his nose had made an appearance.

            ‘Actually, that’s not a bad idea at all. I have helped patients outside of work before, after all. But what if he doesn’t play volleyball?’

            ‘We can teach him, can’t we? It’d be nice to have more than just the two of us for once, don’t you think?’ Suga thought that yes, it would be nice to have an extra person join them, and even better if he suggested what Oikawa had said and told him he could bring a friend.

            ‘Hmm, yeah. Yeah, alright. I’ll ask him,’ Suga looked up, determined, ‘I’ll ask him next time.’

A grin spread across Oikawa’s face at Suga’s response and he clapped his hands loudly.

            ‘Well then! Suga, my child, it is time for you to become a man!’ Oikawa clapped him on the back in what Suga supposed was meant to be an encouraging action.

            ‘How am I your child? I’m _older_ than you.’

            ‘Never mind that!’ he waved a hand dismissively, ‘you’re about to embark on a thrilling new stage of life!’ Oikawa theatrically wiped away a non-existent tear from the corner of his eye and sniffed loudly. ‘Ah, they grow up so fast.’

Suga threw a cushion at him.

 

* * *

 

It was two days after the ‘intervention’ that found Suga once again opposite the man of his dreams. Quite literally; a fact which Suga could absolutely not think about when the man was sitting a metre away from him, trousers rolled up past the knee with his _unfairly_ toned calves on display for all to see. Suga cleared his throat.

            ‘Right, well, that’s it for this week, though your right leg seems to be taking longer to react to the therapy so I’d suggest upping the count on your exercises just for that leg,’ Suga smiled as Daichi nodded, the serious look on his face wasn’t _anything_ close to adorable, Suga told himself repeatedly to stay calm. His hands were already starting to tremble with nerves for what he was about to ask.

            ‘How much by?’ Daichi questioned.

            ‘Erm, I’d say… I’d say five. We don’t want to go overboard and end up undoing anything. ‘

            ‘Yeah, okay, that’s fine,’ Daichi nodded again. He got up and ready to leave and Suga felt his heartbeat increase to such a rate that _must_ have been dangerous. It was now or never. More like now or get lectured by a certain person for another week. More like verbally attacked than lectured. More like- Suga shook his head and stood up straight. He breathed in deeply and held it, then, when Daichi gave him a slightly puzzled look, blurted out the question in a rush.

            ‘I was thinking that it might help if you came and played volleyball with me.’ _Shit._ That came out completely wrong. ‘I mean, I play volleyball on the weekends with a friend and I think it would help your legs if you came along and joined us, I mean, not a serious match, it’d just be for fun, but obviously still to help you! It’d help with the physio, and plus I’d be able to watch you and see how you respond over time.’ _SHIT._ ‘I-I mean! I mean not watch you, that’d be weird, ha, I, erm… I’m sorry.’ Suga looked away, anywhere but at Daichi’s face. That was, quite possibly, the worst way he could have put the suggestion. He could practically sense Oikawa’s exasperated sigh.

            ‘I’d love to.’

That was absolutely, entirely, _not_ what he had been expecting to hear. Suga peeked out from where he had covered his face with his hands in embarrassment, and saw the man smiling back at him. And _was that a blush across his cheeks dear God._

            ‘I- I mean, I play volleyball sometimes anyway, you know… it’s how I ended up here in the first place.’

Suga screamed inside his own head.

How had he _not known_? He was the man’s physiotherapist and he hadn’t even asked which sport he played. Daichi’s smile continued to grow at Suga’s expression of horrified realisation.

            ‘Oh,’ he said.

            ‘But, erm, yeah. I’d like to come if that’s alright?’

This man. Suga felt the embarrassment ebb away at Daichi’s slightly nervous sounding question, and smiled up at him.

            ‘Of course, of course. Yeah…’ There was a slightly awkward silence for around four seconds as the two men smiled at each other. Realising that he was probably making Daichi uncomfortable, Suga cleared his throat and stepped back (when had they gotten that close?). ‘Is, erm, is four okay? For Saturday? I can meet you outside the surgery if that’s easier.’

            ‘Sure, that’s fine. I’ll look forward to it.’ Daichi smiled at Suga and turned to leave.

            ‘Wait!’ Suga almost shouted, starling the other man, ‘sorry, if you want to bring someone else, a friend maybe, then you’re more than welcome.’

If Suga thought that Daichi’s smile could not get any more adorable than it already was, he was very wrong. The man smiled warmly and nodded.

            ‘I will, absolutely.’

            ‘Okay. It’s sorted then. Four on Saturday?’ Suga asked.

            ‘Four on Saturday,’ he repeated, ‘Oh, and Suga?’

Suga looked up expectantly.

            ‘Yes?’

            ‘Thank you.’

The gratitude in the man’s eyes made Suga almost sad. Maybe he didn’t get chances like these often? Well, if that was the case, Suga was certain that Saturday was going to be as exciting as he could make it.

            ‘No problem,’ he beamed.

When Daichi had left, Suga whipped out his phone and sent Oikawa a quick text with still shaking fingers. Though this time it was due to excitement.

 

**10:37 am**

**To: Oikawa**

**I’ve asked him! He said yes! Four on Saturday!**

 

His phone beeped immediately, as though his friend had been sitting at home all morning waiting to hear the news. Actually, thought Suga, he probably had.

 

**10:37 am**

**From: Oikawa**

**WHOOO!!! :O :O operation get-you-a-date is GO \\(^.^)/**

**10:38 am**

**To: Oikawa**

**He’s bringing a friend too!**

**10:38 am**

**From: Oikawa**

**this is gonna be gooooood (~˘** **▾˘)~**

 

Suga laughed and tucked his phone back into his pocket. Now all he had to do was to survive until Saturday.


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sooooooo I was supposed to be finishing some reports for my degree, but when I sat down to write this came out instead. Oh well, I hope you enjoy reading, and thank you to everyone who has commented, it really motivates me to write more!  
> As always, sorry in advance for any errors I've probably missed...

 

The next few days passed in a blur, and before he knew it, Suga was locking the apartment door, sports bag on his back, with an over-excited Oikawa fidgeting around beside him.

            ‘Stop jumping around, you’re setting me on edge,’ he complained. It was hard enough controlling his own nervous trembling without his friend hopping around too.

            ‘I can’t help it!’ Oikawa chuckled with glee, ‘I’ve been waiting to see your Prince Charming for weeks!’

            ‘D-don’t call him that! He doesn’t know I- I…’ Suga trailed off, face red.

            ‘What, that you’re madly in love with him and you mention him at least three times an hour?’ Oikawa cocked an eyebrow at Suga and grinned when the silver-haired man glared at him through a very prominent blush.

            ‘I- I’m not _in love_ with him, Oikawa,’ Suga insisted, before removing his keys from the door and shoving them into his back pocket. He couldn’t deny the three times an hour thing though. In fact, Oikawa was probably being generous; Suga knew he talked about him a lot more than that. He took a deep breath and let it out slowly. Then, raising his head to look his friend in the eye he nodded as though they were about to go into battle and said, ‘let’s do this.’

            ‘Hoo! I can’t wait!’ Oikawa slapped Suga on the back, knocking the wind out of him before skipping over to the lift and pressing the call button. Suga sighed as he walked across the hallway to join him. This was going to be a very… memorable afternoon.

* * *

            ‘You’ve got to be kidding me.’ Oikawa was out of the lift and already standing with his face pressed up against the glass of the entrance to the apartments before Suga had even walked through the doors.

            ‘What’s the matt- oh.’ Suga’s smile dropped away as he saw what Oikawa was looking at.

It was raining. Torrentially. Fat droplets of water hit the windows and splashed across the tarmac outside with ridiculous force. Suga walked forwards slowly and joined Oikawa at the window. The sky was almost black with cloud and didn’t look like it was about to ease off anytime soon.

            ‘It was sunny this morning!’ wailed Oikawa, throwing his arms up in exasperation, ‘they said it wouldn’t rain until tomorrow!’

            ‘When was the last time we actually looked outside?’ asked Suga slowly, not quite believing the sudden change in weather.

Oikawa lowered his arms and pressed a closed fist to his chin in thought.

            ‘Well, I looked out of the window just before that documentary started, but I closed the curtains so I could see the television better… Soooo probably around ten o’clock.’

            ‘Right,’ Suga nodded; the curtains had been closed for the majority of the day so it was no wonder, ‘Hold on…’ he turned to Oikawa, who suddenly looked sheepish, ‘you were watching that documentary since ten _am_? That’s _six hours_! What even _was_ it?’

Oikawa looked away, embarrassed, and waved his hand about nonchalantly, ‘Oh, erm, it was just, you know, about this really secret building that nobody’s supposed to know about and everyone says that it’s full of, erm, space stuff, you know, there’s a lot of information about it even though it’s supposed to be secret and, erm…’ He trailed off and refused to meet Suga’s eyes.

            ‘I should have known,’ Suga shook his head and laughed, then suddenly remembered where they were supposed to be going and let out a strangled squeak. Oikawa turned to look at Suga as though he had just suggested they go out and mug an old lady instead.

            ‘What the fuck was that?’

            ‘We- we need to go! Daichi will be waiting!’ Suga moved around Oikawa and pushed the doors open, hurrying out into the rain.

            ‘Wait! Suga!’ Oikawa shouted after him, running to catch up.

The two men ran across the complex car park and turned the corner at the end of the road towards the village centre.

            ‘Suga!’ Oikawa yelled over the noise of the traffic and torrential rain as they continued to jog along, ‘do you think he’ll still want to play volleyball in this?’ He raised his arms in gesture to the rain that continued to pour down on top of them.

            ‘I doubt it, but we can’t just leave him standing there can we?’ Suga reasoned.

            ‘Ahh, I’m going to look like someone tried to drown me in a lake,’ complained Oikawa miserably, shaking the water from his hair as they ran.

* * *

            They reached the closed practice in record time, only to find the surrounding area completely empty. They hurried under the canopied entrance and leaned forwards with hands on their knees as they caught their breath. Oikawa caught sight of himself in the reflection of the glass door and let out a sound like a dying cat.

            ‘Look at my hair!’ he cried.

Suga raised his head and snorted at Oikawa’s distraught expression, then dissolved into full on laughter at the state of his hair. Where once it had been perfectly fashioned into his usual fluffy style, it was now lying flat and deflated, stuck to his skin with rainwater. He really did look like someone had attempted to drown him.

            ‘Ahahaha!’ Suga held his stomach as he laughed, the tears streaming down his face mixing with the remaining droplets of rain.

            ‘Stop laughing,’ Oikawa pouted as he tried to fix the disaster in his reflection.

            ‘I ca- aha, I _can’t_.’ Suga wheezed, ‘don’t go fishing today; they might think there’s one on your head!’ Oikawa turned and glared at him but instead of the usual intimidating look, it just made everything worse. A limp piece of hair flopped down into his eye from where Oikawa had tried to fix it back in place, and Suga lost it completely. He fell to the wet ground and roared with laughter while Oikawa just looked at himself and grumbled under his breath.

After several painful minutes and few deep breathes Suga managed to reduce his hysterics to the occasional chuckle, but it was clear to the both of them that there was no saving Oikawa’s hair. Holding his stomach with one arm, Suga wiped the tears from his eyes and got up.

‘Oh my _God,_ that was so funny. I’m sorry, but it was _so funny._ ’

‘Yes, well, as you were taking such joy from my pain, you failed to notice that your man is nowhere in sight.’ Oikawa turned around and crossed his arms with a huff. Suga stopped laughing immediately and realised that Oikawa was absolutely right. The area surrounding the practice was still empty.

‘Oh,’ he said, softly. The rain was falling as forcefully as ever, and Suga felt his heart sink. Maybe he’d scared him away after all.

‘Perhaps he got lost on the way?’ Suga questioned, and Oikawa smiled sympathetically at him.

‘He’s probably just running late, Suga,’ he unzipped his waterproof jacket and pulled out his phone, ‘it’s only five past four anyway.’

‘Yeah.’

            ‘Cheer up!’ Oikawa almost shouted, suddenly, taking Suga by surprise, ‘you look like a real damsel in distress right now!’ he leaned closer to the other man and winked, ‘or is that what you want?’ he moved away and spread his arms wide, ‘for your Prince Charming to come and sweep you off your feet and carry you away!’ he made a dramatic show of pretending to faint, ‘oh, Daichi, I cannot take this any longer! Let us elope together!’

            ‘You’re such an idiot,’ Suga mumbled, embarrassed at his friends actions, ‘and stop calling him Prince Charming!’

Oikawa continued his act until a loud rumbling sound caught their attention. He turned around as Suga looked up to see a large, shiny black motorbike turn into the Practice car park and roll towards them. Two figures sat astride it, helmets streaked with rain.

            ‘Holy shit,’ Oikawa breathed, ‘is that…’

The motorbike stopped just short of the canopy, and the two riders jumped off, removing their helmets as they did so. They were both clad in classic leather, with large boots and thick jackets. And, thought Suga, very unfairly tight trousers. As the helmets were lowered from the men’s faces, Suga realised with what he thought was a small heart attack that the driver was definitely Daichi, and the other man must be the friend he spoke of.

            ‘Well fuck me.’ Oikawa whispered as the two walked over to where they stood, and Suga couldn’t help but think the exact same thing.


	6. Chapter 6

            ‘Sorry we’re late,’ Daichi smiled apologetically as he walked over, ‘had a bit of trouble with the bike.’

Suga realised his mouth was hanging open slightly, and quickly snapped it shut as the two men stopped in front of them.

            ‘No problem, we only got here a couple of minutes ago,’ he smiled, ‘oh, right,’ he gestured at Oikawa, who looked as though a part of his brain had shorted out, ‘this is Oikawa, the friend I told you about. Oikawa, this is Daichi.’

Daichi turned to him, ‘nice to meet you,’ he then lifted up an arm and let it rest casually on the unknown man’s shoulder,’ this is Iwaizumi, the friend I told _you_ about.’

            ‘Nice to meet you,’ Iwaizumi looked at both Suga and Oikawa.

            ‘I’m Suga, Daichi’s physiotherapist,’ Suga offered, and Iwaizumi nodded.

            ‘I guessed, he hasn’t stopped mentioning you since last week. In fact he-‘

Daichi coughed loudly and not-so-subtly shoved Iwaizumi to shut him up. This seemed to break Oikawa from whatever attractive-man-induced trance he’d fallen into, and he suddenly clapped his hands together. Suga blushed, and thanked the cold for making his cheeks red first.

            ‘Well then, shall we get going?’ he grinned at the three men and, Suga noticed, discreetly attempted to adjust his hair after a quick sideways glance into the glass.

            ‘I mean,’ Suga cut in, ‘if the rain doesn’t bother you? The court we use is outdoors, a little way down from the park, and it’s not sheltered or anything so…’ he trailed off.

            ‘We don’t mind a bit of rain,’ Daichi chuckled, but studied Suga and Oikawa with a slightly concerned look,’ but you two look soaked through already, do you want to go somewhere else for a bit first and see if the rain goes off?’

            Suga felt relief wash over him at the man’s words; he was already starting to shiver as the rainwater dried cold across his skin. Oikawa had also begun to tremble slightly. At this rate the only thing they were going to get from today were colds.

            ‘Sure,’ he smiled up at Daichi, where do you want to go?’

            ‘There’s a place just outside the town centre where we like to go after work some nights,’ Iwaizumi offered, and Daichi nodded in affirmation, ‘it’s a kind of café restaurant place, but they do lots of different choices of hot drinks.’

            ‘Which I’m sure you two could do with,’ Daichi added, then laughed at Oikawa’s excited expression.

            ‘Definitely,’ Oikawa agreed with a grin.

The four men left the shelter of the practice’s canopy and, heads bent, walked back out into the rain.

            ‘Oh, Suga?’ Daichi questioned over the noise of the downpour.

Suga walked faster to catch up, and looked up at him.

            ‘Yeah?’

            ‘Is it alright if I leave my bike on this car park?' he asked, ‘only, the road outside the café is busy and I don’t think there’ll be anywhere to park it.’

            ‘Sure, yeah. No problem,’ Suga stopped and pointed back to the practice, ‘there’s a bike rack just around the right corner if you want to use that.’

Daichi looked over to where Suga was pointing.

            ‘Oh right, thanks,’ he smiled down at him with such warmth that Suga almost forgot he was standing in the middle of a torrential downpour.

Daichi jogged over to the bike and Suga watched as he wheeled it around the corner. Definitely just to make sure Daichi was going in the right direction, not at all because he had the most amazing-‘

            ‘Hey, Mr Head-in-the-Clouds!’ Oikawa called from the entrance to the car park, ‘I said hurry up!’

            ‘I’ll be there in a second!’ Suga called back. He chuckled to himself as he watched an exasperated Oikawa turn and start talking animatedly to a rather taken aback looking Iwaizumi. He kept watching as Iwaizumi laughed at whatever he had said, and Oikawa’s face turned a spectacular shade of red. _Oh._ _This_ was going to be _fun._

            ‘Ok, all ready,’ Daichi puffed as he jogged back over to Suga.

Suga looked up into Daichi’s smiling face and had the sudden, ludicrous urge to take his hand. He settled for shoving both hands into his pockets as far as they would go, and grinning at the taller man.

            ‘Then let’s go!’

* * *

The rain had stopped by the time they got to the café Iwaizumi had suggested, Oikawa and Iwaizumi heatedly discussing tactics in front, and Suga and Daichi walking in companionable silence behind, occasionally sharing an amused glance at the other two men. Daichi was strangely comfortable to be around, thought Suga, even though he didn’t know much about the man, it felt like they’d already been friends for a long time.

            The bell above the door rang loudly as the four sodden men entered, wiping their feet and dripping rainwater onto the wooden floor. Suga fell in love instantly. The café had the perfect mix of homeliness and professionalism. Instead of tables and chairs, there was an impressive assortment of sofas and armchairs. New and old, leather and fabric, from the darkest brown to a florescent green. Coffee tables were dotted about, covered with books and magazines. The entire place oozed comfort and warmth. There was even an open fire over in the far corner where Suga could see a group of five middle aged women talking in hushed voices. There were a few other people besides them, dotted around the small room. Most had steaming cups of sweet smelling liquid in front of them and didn’t bother to look up as the four entered.

            ‘We usually sit upstairs,’ explained Iwaizumi as he led the way through the room and around a corner to a hidden flight of stairs, ‘it’s quieter up there. Plus,’ he looked at Daichi with a knowing grin, ‘we like to people watch.’

            ‘What do you mean?’ Suga asked as they made their way up the stairs.

            ‘Well,’ Daichi began, ‘when we first met each other, we both work for a house marketing firm in town,’ he explained as an afterthought, ‘we shared an office, and started up a game for when we were bored or on breaks.’ They arrived at the top of the stairs and Suga looked around in awe. To their left was a gigantic window, looking out onto the streets and people below. Like downstairs, this floor was covered in random sofas and chairs, with a huge, full bookcase across one wall. Iwaizumi was right – it was much quieter up here. Suga jolted out of his thoughts when he realised that Iwaizumi had continued to speak.

            ‘…make a fake situation for any strange looking person we saw outside,’ he finished as they sat down around a table in front of the window. Suga sat opposite Daichi, with Oikawa next to him.

            ‘Do you want me to go and order?’ Suga asked, opening his bag to look for his wallet.

            ‘Don’t worry about it,’ Iwaizumi said, ‘we know the owner so I can get us a discount.’ He walked back the way they had come. Suga listened to the creaking of the old wood staircase under his feet as he dropped out of sight.

            ‘Wait,’ Oikawa turned away from the window and looked at Daichi,’ we didn’t even tell him what we wanted!’

            ‘Don’t worry about that, Sachiko has the strange power of making drinks that everybody loves. I don’t know how she does it if I’m honest.’ He looked down at the floor in thought. Suga caught himself staring again, but Daichi’s thinking face _was_ adorable. Wait. Had he just described a twenty-eight year old man as ‘adorable?’ He shook his head to try and clear his thoughts.

            ‘Sachiko? Is she the owner?’ asked Oikawa, leaning forward on his elbows.

            ‘Yeah, we’ve known her as long as Iwaizumi and I have been working together. Must be seven years now. Jesus,’ he leaned back with a sigh and stared at the ceiling. A moment of comfortable silence passed before Suga stood up and yawned.

            ‘I’ll go and see if Iwaizumi needs help bringing the drinks up,’ he said as he stretched.

            ‘No, no, I’ll go, it’s fine, you stay here,’ Oikawa insisted with slightly too much enthusiasm. Suga gave him a knowing, almost sarcastic smile and sat back down.

            ‘Ok Oikawa, if you’re sure you can manage.’

            ‘Shut up,’ he muttered, and turned around in the direction of the stairs, though not quickly enough to hide the red that had begun to rise across his cheeks.

            Daichi gave Suga a look as if to say ‘what was that about?’ but Suga just laughed.

            ‘So, can we have a go at that game Iwaizumi was talking about earlier?’ Suga leaned forward and looked Daichi in the eye, ‘the people spotting, or whatever it was.’

            ‘Oh! Yeah, sure,’ he scratched his neck and looked away. Suga could swear he seemed almost embarrassed, ‘I thought you were going to start quizzing me about physio or something, to be honest.’

_Oh._

            ‘What?’ Suga laughed, ‘well, I wasn’t intending to now with us not actually playing volleyball, unless you want me to, I mean,’ he paused, and now it was his turn to feel nervous, ‘if you do want to stay professional that’s fine, I’d understand, I can go, I’ll see you next week anyway…’ he trailed off into an embarrassed silence.

            ‘Wait, no! No, that’s not what I meant at all!’ Daichi stood up and moved to sit next to Suga. Suga turned to him and saw guilt so obvious on the other man’s face that it made his own stomach twist uncomfortably.

            ‘I’m enjoying this,’ Daichi pressed, ‘I was joking, I’d much rather spend time with you as a friend than have to discuss how painful my knees were this week. It’s nice, just being like this,’ he gestured around the room, ‘it’s different. I’m sorry if I made you think I didn’t want you here.’ He started to clasp and unclasp his hands nervously as he awaited Suga’s reply.

            ‘Oh,’ Suga breathed, ‘I thought perhaps… Sorry.’

            ‘Don’t apologise,’ Daichi urged, smiling at Suga.

            ‘So, you’d want to do this again then?’ Suga asked, trying to keep the hope from his voice, ‘meet up outside of my workplace, I mean?’

            ‘Of course.’

The two men, now relieved that the misunderstanding had been resolved, sat comfortably next to each other until Oikawa and Iwaizumi appeared at the top of the stairs with a tray of steaming mugs, talking loudly about something that seemed, by the looks on their faces, vitally important. It was only when the warmth abruptly left his side as the other two men neared their table that Suga realised he and Daichi had been pressed together on the chair for the entire time. He blushed deep and risked a subtle glance at the other man, then looked away when he saw mirroring red on Daichi’s face. _What?_

            He didn’t get chance to ponder too long though, as Oikawa flopped down opposite him with a large, spotted mug and demanded that he tell Iwaizumi it’s ‘sacrilege to have hot chocolate without cream.’ He laughed and turned to Daichi as Iwaizumi set down the tray and sank into the sofa next to Oikawa. Daichi reached across the table and picked up a blue mug with little white clouds painted around it, and handed it carefully to Suga.

            Their fingers overlapped one another’s for a second as the cup was transferred, and Suga spent the rest of the day trying to figure out whether the rush of warmth that he felt was from the mug, or Daichi’s hands.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I struggled a bit with this one, I hope it's alright... Anyway, deadlines have passed for the moment (thank goodness) so I have a bit more time to write this. Probably the reason why this chapter is once again even longer than the last.  
> Also, I realised something after a friend pointed it out. I live in a small town, and the way people speak around here is quite different to the rest of the country, so if there are any words or phrases that don't make sense, that'll be why. I don't notice it myself - speaking like that every day - but I've tried my best to make sure none of them slip in to my writing. Apologies if I've missed any.  
> As always, thank you for reading!


	7. Chapter 7

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry!!! I meant to get this chapter out a bit sooner but then I realised I had a 90 page manuscript due at the end of the month so that kind of took centre stage for a while. Anyway, I hope you enjoy reading! As always, I apologise for any mistakes :)

In the end they never got around to playing volleyball, and instead spent the rest of the afternoon tucked comfortably into the corner by the window, laughing at bad jokes and sharing funny stories. It was only when Suga’s stomach made a particularly loud growl that the group realised it was almost seven in the evening.

            ‘Woah, have we really been here for that long?’ Suga asked as Daichi read the time from his mobile.

            ‘Yeah,’ Daichi said, ‘I didn’t even notice.’

Oikawa yawned loudly and stretched before standing up and shaking the stiffness out of his legs.

            ‘Well,’ he began, ‘it’s been fun, I think. We should do this again sometime. Maybe when it’s not raining though,’ he laughed.

Iwaizumi nodded his head in agreement, also getting up from his chair.

            ‘Yeah, we should. We could make it a regular thing? He looked at Oikawa and then at Suga. Suga jumped up from his seat next to Daichi and smiled.

            ‘Sure! That’d be fun,’ he looked down to where Daichi was still sitting, seemingly attempting to summon the energy to stand, ‘as long as it’s alright with you?’

Daichi yawned and rubbed his eyes before slowly getting to his feet with a tired sigh. Suga felt his smile widening at the sleepy look on Daichi’s face, then even more so when the man turned and regarded him with a soft expression.

            ‘That’s fine by me, I’ll look forward to it.’

The two men stood smiling at each other for a moment too long, until there was a loud cough. Suga turned to see Oikawa watching him with a knowing expression, but when he looked to Iwaizumi, he saw the man giving Daichi the exact same look. _Huh?_

            ‘So,’ Suga started, trying to ignore Oikawa’s quiet snickering, ‘next Saturday then?’

            ‘Same time?’ asked Iwaizumi.

            ‘We _could_ meet earlier,’ Daichi suggested, and Suga noted that he looked slightly flustered, ‘if we do actually want to have a game.’

            After much deliberation on exactly where and when the group would meet, they finally settled on the next Saturday at one, at the café. It was only when the four men left the shop and stood outside the door did Suga feel the first prickling sensation of awkwardness. Was this where they parted ways? Did they walk together for a bit then separate? What should he say? ‘See you’ was a bit… short. But he didn’t want to be overbearing and say something like ‘I’m looking forward to seeing you again.’ Then again, should he-

            ‘Suga?’

Daichi’s voice shook Suga from his thoughts. He looked up and realised that all three men were staring at him. He reached a hand up to his mouth and wiped at his lips. _Is there something on my face? Why are they looking at me like that?_

            ‘Are… are you going to lead the way, or?’ Daichi asked, and Suga could hear the laugh in his voice.

            ‘W-what do you mean?’

            ‘My bike, I left it at your work, remember?’

_Oh._ He could have kicked himself. Or rather, kicked Oikawa, who was snorting with laughter at Suga’s embarrassment. Even Iwaizumi was smiling with amusement.

            ‘O-oh, right, yeah. Sorry I forgot,’ he laughed and Daichi joined in.

            ‘Don’t worry about it,’ he chuckled.

 

* * *

 

I was almost eight o’clock by the time the little group made it back to Suga’s practise. Oikawa and Iwaizumi leaned against the wall next to the entrance as Daichi and Suga went to fetch the bike. Suga could hear their voices drifting around the corner and caught snippets of their conversation.

            ‘…do you know they’re not?’

            ‘Have you ever even seen one?’

            ‘I have actually, Suga was there, he’ll tell you.’

            ‘Well why would they come to earth if they did exist?’

            ‘Have you ever watched a film? Invasion obviously!’

Suga heard Iwaizumi sigh heavily and put a hand over his mouth to smother his laughter. Daichi looked up from where he was unlocking the bike chain.

            ‘What’s the matter?’

            ‘Nothing, nothing. They seem to be getting along well,’ he gestured at the corner of the building. Daichi paused and listened to the other men’s conversation.

            ‘…sure? You’d be on the ship for five minutes before they threw you back to earth, left, and never came back.’

            ‘That’s mean, and of course they’d come back, that’s why…’

Daichi and Suga looked at each other briefly before simultaneously bursting out into raucous laughter. 

            After calming down, Daichi stood up, wiped a tear from his eye. He picked up his helmet and smiled warmly at Suga.

            ‘I’ve really enjoyed today. Thank you.’

The sincerity in Daichi’s eyes was so strong that Suga couldn’t help but grin widely up at the other man.

            ‘Actually, erm, Suga?’ Daichi suddenly seemed unsure of himself. Nervous, almost. Suga stopped smiling and frowned.

            ‘Yeah?’ he asked, slowly.

Daichi fiddled with his helmet and didn’t look Suga in the eye.

            ‘Do you maybe want to…’ he trailed off and Suga felt his pulse speed up rapidly.

            ‘Do you want to exchange numbers? I-I mean, for in case the plans change or if one of us can’t make it.’ Daichi still wasn’t looking up, and Suga swore he felt his heart stop for a split second. Daichi seemed to take Suga’s stunned silence as a no.

            ‘Sorry, it’s fine if you don’t want to, I just thought-‘

            ‘Yes,’ Suga cut him off as soon as he regained the power of speech, ‘yes. I’d like that.’

            ‘Really?’ Daichi looked up and finally met Suga’s eyes. The look on his face was as though he’d been given a winning lottery ticket. Suga smiled and dug around in his pocket for his phone, before handing it to Daichi. The other man looked at the mobile, stunned, before taking it from Suga’s outstretched palm. Their skin brushed again and Suga felt something electric flutter across his hand.

            ‘To be honest,’ he offered, as Daichi entered his contact details with shaking fingers, ‘I wanted to ask you the same thing, but I wasn’t sure you’d say yes.’

Daichi clicked save, and passed the phone back to Suga. Suga opened the contact and sent a blank message to Daichi’s phone. He heard it buzz from the other man’s pocket.

            ‘Why not?’

            ‘Well, with what I said before about staying professional and everything.’

            ‘I told you,’ Daichi smiled as he began to wheel the bike out of the racking, ‘I’d like to be friends.’

Suga took one look at Daichi’s honest expression and knew for certain that he was a dead man.

            ‘Are you two ready or what?’ came Oikawa’s voice as he rounded the corner, Iwaizumi right behind him.

            ‘Yeah, all set to go,’ said Daichi as he swung one leg over the bike and sat down. He threw Iwaizumi the other helmet, who caught it cleanly and jumped onto the bike behind Daichi.

            ‘Well, I guess we’ll see you next week then?’ asked Suga.

            ‘Yeah. The café at one, right?’ Daichi questioned.

Suga nodded, and Daichi started the bike. He felt the vibrations of the machine in his chest as the two men secured their helmets over their heads.

            ‘Text me if the plans change,’ came Daichi’s muffled voice just before he pulled down the visor.

            ‘Will do!’ Suga had to raise his voice to be heard over the rumbling of the bike. He and Oikawa moved back to give the men room, and with a quick wave from each, they roared away, out of the car park and out of sight. It wasn’t until the sound of the bike had faded into the distance that Oikawa and Suga turned to look at each other. They both started to speak at the same time.

            ‘Don’t say any-‘

            ‘I won’t say if-‘

They paused before trying again.

            ‘So,’ tried Oikawa.

            ‘So,’ echoed Suga.

            ‘I sense takeaway pizza, and lots of it,’ Suga stated, turning back to look at the entrance as if the bike would suddenly reappear.

            ‘I couldn’t agree more,’ Oikawa breathed, following his gaze.

A few spots of rain began to darken the semi-dry tarmac of the car park. Suga hoisted his bag further up on his shoulder and looked back to his friend.

            ‘Let’s get home, before we get soaked again. I don’t fancy a second outdoor shower today.’

Oikawa hummed in agreement, and Suga noted that he seemed uncharacteristically quiet. Then he saw the flush in his cheeks and smiled, turning away before his friend could notice that he’d seen. The two walked out of the car park and started on the road towards their apartment. It wasn’t until the reached the front door and Suga pulled out the key that Oikawa stopped.

            ‘Hold on,’ he muttered, ‘Daichi said to text him… did you… oh my God, did you get his number already!’ Oikawa turned to Suga, astonished. Suga simply grinned back and continued unlocking the apartment.

            ‘You did!’ he wailed, ‘you sneaky bastard, how?’

Suga just laughed and walked inside, taking off his shoes and leaning them against the radiator to dry.

            ‘Tell meeee,’ Oikawa whined, ‘that’s so unfair, I didn’t think you worked that quickly.’

            ‘It was his idea, actually,’ Suga hummed, taking off his jacket and making his way into the kitchen. He paused along the way to stroke Sooty, who had sauntered into the hallway to greet them.

            ‘No way, really?’ Oikawa dropped his shoes by the door and followed Suga into the room.

            ‘Yep. You need to up your game, Oikawa.’ He filled the kettle and switched it on, then pulled out two mugs from the cupboard and set them down next to Oikawa’s head.

            ‘Mrrff,’ came the muffled response from where the other man had rested his face on the cold countertop. As Suga was pulling the milk from the fridge Oikawa jumped up and grinned at him.

            ‘Wha- oh no. No, I know that look, don’t tell me,’ Suga groaned, when he saw the ‘ _I’m planning something that you’re not going to like’_ expression on Oikawa’s face. He set the milk down and turned to face his friend.

            ‘If,’ Oikawa began, and Suga instantly knew he was doomed, ‘if you ask nicely, I bet he’ll give you Iwa-chan’s number too, and then you can ‘ _accidentally’_ give it to me and pretend to know nothing about it!’

Wait, _what?_

            ‘Oikawa, I can’t just text Daichi and say ‘Hi, by the way, can you give me your friend’s number because Oikawa is absolutely smitten with him and won’t stop crying on the sofa because I have your number and he doesn-‘

            ‘You can’t say that!’ Oikawa shrieked, ‘just ask subtly! And I’m not crying on the sofa at all!’

            ‘Oh?’ laughed Suga, ‘so you _are_ absolutely smitten with him then?’

Oikawa went bright red and huffed in annoyance.

            ‘I’m going to take a shower, and I want you to know that you’re an awful friend.’

It wasn’t until Suga heard the bathroom door shut and the sound of the shower running that it occurred to him exactly what Oikawa had just said.

            ‘Wait. _Iwa-chan_?’


	8. Chapter 8

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okaaaay so... two dissertations and an almost deadly head cold later and I'm back with a new chapter! Be warned - I wrote and edited most of this in a kind of paracetamol-fueled dream state so I apologise in advance for any errors. As always, I hope you enjoy reading it! 
> 
> ...I've also realised that this is probably going to go on for longer than I first thought, maybe to 14/15 chapters? Who knows, we'll see.

As it turned out, Suga didn’t have to wait until Saturday to see Daichi again. When he arrived at work on Wednesday morning, Kiyoko called him over to the desk and informed him that a last minute appointment had been made for the end of the day.

            ‘Oh, righ’. ‘oo is it?’ he asked around a mouthful of breakfast biscuit.

            ‘Erm, Sawamura Daichi.  He called up yesterday about pain in his right knee, said he can’t manage the physio and wondered if you could help. That’s all that’s in the notes anyway.’ Kiyoko printed off the details and handed him the piece of paper before tucking a loose strand of hair back behind her ear. He took the paper and swallowed audibly.

            ‘Oh, okay. Thanks… I, uh, I’ll just be, you know, in my office…’ he trailed off, aware of Kiyoko watching him with a confused look on her face. Tucking the piece of paper under his arm, he hoisted his bag further up onto his shoulder and walked quickly out of the reception.

            Upon entering his office, he shrugged off his jacket and draped it over the back of his chair, then proceeded to take out his phone and open his inbox. He and Daichi had texted briefly since exchanging numbers at the weekend, but he hadn’t mentioned anything about pain in his leg. The last message was sent the night before, when he was telling Suga how he’d caught Iwaizumi looking up alien conspiracy theories and muttering angrily to himself. Suga re-read it and chuckled. As he sat down and booted up the computer, he reassured himself that if it had been anything serious, Daichi would have texted him before. With this thought in mind, he took out his paperwork and began to prepare himself for the day ahead. At least, he thought to himself as he logged into the system, he’d have a nice end to the day.

 

* * *

 

            The day ran smoothly and before Suga knew it the clock was showing quarter to five. He yawned and leaned back in his chair, before being interrupted by a soft knock on the door. Jumping upright, he quickly smoothed out the wrinkles that had gathered across his shirt, and called out, ‘come in!’

            The door opened slowly and Daichi stepped inside.

            ‘Hey,’ he said, as he shut the door behind him and took his usual place on the bed behind Suga’s desk.

            ‘Hi, Suga smiled, ‘Kiyoko told me about your leg, can I take a look?

Daichi nodded and rolled up his trousers.

            ‘So, what’s happened?’ he asked as he compared Daichi’s knees and felt around for any swelling.

            ‘Well, I’m getting pain in the side of my right knee when I’m doing the leg raises, so I just wanted to make sure I wasn’t making them worse.’

Suga hummed but remained silent as he examined the other man’s knees. Seeming to come to a conclusion, he sat back and smiled at Daichi.

            ‘Are you using pillows to support your legs when you’re doing the raises?’

Daichi looked stumped, ‘well, erm, no. I’d forgotten about that.’

Suga laughed and Daichi flushed, clearly embarrassed.

            ‘That’ll be the reason then. Just support your leg with a pillow under the knee and it should be fine, though perhaps cut back on the number of raises for that leg until it stops hurting.’

Daichi stood up. He stretched his arms above his head and Suga turned quickly away when his shirt lifted up just enough to expose a section of well-toned stomach. He started pointedly out of the window until the blush had faded from his cheeks, and waited for the other man to roll his trouser legs back down.

            ‘You know,’ he began when he turned back to face Daichi, ‘you could have just text me and asked, save you coming all the way out here.’

Daichi looked sheepish, and didn’t look Suga in the eye when he spoke, ‘I thought that you might want, you know, to keep work separate.’

            ‘What, why?’ Suga asked, confused.

            ‘Well, I don’t know, I just thought…’ Daichi trailed off, unsure, and Suga moved back over to him.

            ‘What you said on Saturday,’ Suga began, ‘about being friends, I meant it when I said that’s what I want. Whether we see each other here with you as my patient or if we meet outside of the practice, it doesn’t matter to me. I like spending time with you,’ Suga explained, though it was only when Daichi looked back at him, wide-eyed and with a blush dusting his cheeks that Suga realised what he had just said.

            ‘I-I mean, I, you’re a nice person to be around a-and you’re funny and kind a-and I just, I…uh…’ Suga hid his face in his hands and almost screamed into them. Instead, he yelled every curse word he’d ever known loudly inside his head and wondered what he’d ever done to deserve this embarrassment. A touch on his shoulder brought him out of his panic and he looked up to see Daichi with his arm outstretched towards him, strong fingers gripping the shoulder of his shirt.

            ‘I…’ the words died on Suga’s lips as he felt the warmth from Daichi’s hand spreading through his shirt and across his skin. What almost caused a full-body meltdown though was the expression on Daichi’s face as he looked at him. The sun had started to set, and the light that seeped into the office through the little window dusted lightly across the side of the man’s face. His dark eyes almost seemed to shine, and Suga couldn’t help but stare into them, seeing his own awed face looking back at him in their reflection. Daichi was watching at him with his mouth slightly open and his eyebrows drawn up in surprise, and Suga felt something in his chest grow warmer.

            ‘Suga…’ Daichi started, ‘if, if that’s really what you think then, d-do you want to maybe…,’ he paused, looked away from Suga and took a deep breath, before rushing out the next words, ‘do you want to get coffee with me? Today? Y-you finish now, don’t you?’

The room seemed to go completely silent, and Suga swore he could hear his watch ticking away the seconds that grew gradually into an almost awkward silence, before Daichi removed his hand from his shoulder and took a step back. Suga realised how the other man must have taken his silence and quickly spoke up.

            ‘Yes!’ he almost shouted, and Daichi flinched, ‘I’m sorry, I mean, yes. Yeah. Sorry. I could call Oikawa or-‘

            ‘I-I meant just us, you know, just the two of us. Just, yeah…’ Daichi cut in, and Suga watched the blush grow even more prominent until the man looked almost sunburnt.

            ‘You mean,’ started Suga quietly, ‘like, like a da-‘

            ‘Yes,’ Daichi cut in again, ‘like, yeah. Like that.’

            ‘Oh,’ Suga breathed, and then, ‘well, then yes.’

The two men stood for a moment, just staring at each other in disbelief, until Suga felt the relief bubble up in his chest and escape from his mouth in the form of a quite giggle. Daichi looked at Suga and frowned.

            ‘Hold on, are you, are you laughing at me?’ Daichi asked, seemingly horrified at Suga’s reaction.

            ‘Hm, uh, no! No, no no not at all. No,’ Suga repeated, throwing a hand across his mouth to hide his smile.

            ‘You are! You’re laughing at me! I can’t believe this, I can’t...’ Daichi mumbled to himself under his breath and hid his face in his hands as Suga tried to suppress his chuckling. Eventually, the urge became too great and Suga laughed aloud, unable to stop. Daichi looked scandalised and that only seemed to make it worse.

            ‘Hey!’ Daichi reached forward again and grabbed Suga by the shoulders, but the other man simply continued to snort, hands clutching his stomach and tears in his eyes. However, when Suga raised his head and saw Daichi’s face mere inches from his own, the laughter died almost instantly. He saw Daichi’s eyes follow one of Suga’s tears as it rolled down his cheek and stopped at his lips. Daichi didn’t look away, and seemed if anything to get closer. Suga could hear his heart pounding in his ears as their eyes met, almost too close to still be in focus.

Just as Daichi began to move even nearer, Suga’s pocket radio crackled into life with a shrill beeping and the sudden sound caused the two men to jump. Into each other. There was a muffled thump as their foreheads collided and both men stumbled back, clutching their heads.

‘Owww,’ groaned Daichi, as Suga hissed in pain.

The radio buzzed into clarity, and Suga heard Kiyoko’s voice over the line.

            _‘…wants to lock up, are you almost ready to leave?’_

Suga reached around and unclipped the radio from the back of his belt. He brought it up to his mouth and clicked the call button.

            ‘Yeah, yeah, sorry, I’ll be right out.’

            _‘Okay, it’s past five, you know.’_

            ‘I know, I know, I just… had something to sort out, I’m on my way.’ He clipped the radio back onto his belt and looked at Daichi apologetically.

            ‘Oh my God I’m so sorry,’ he rushed out, looking at Daichi’s forehead which was now looking a little red. Suga could only assume he had a matching mark on his own face.

            ‘Don’t worry about it,’ Daichi muttered, poking the sore spot with his finger and wincing, ‘Shouldn’t we get out of here?’

            ‘Yeah, the security wants to lock up,’ Suga sighed, and started to gather his things. Daichi moved to stand by the door.

            ‘I guess, uh, you might want to just go home now instead. I mean,’ Daichi laughed softly, ‘you probably have a headache now.’

            ‘Yeah,’ agreed Suga, ‘I think I need to lie down to be honest.’ He chuckled, but stopped when he turned to swing his bag over his shoulder and caught sight of Daichi’s crestfallen expression.

            ‘You know, you could always come for coffee at our place,’ Suga suggested, ‘Oikawa will still be at work, and I have ice packs in the freezer for your head.’

Daichi looked up, surprised, ‘are you sure? I don’t want to intrude or anything.’

            ‘It’s fine!’ Suga smiled and walked over to the door before opening it, ‘it’ll be nice to have someone round for a change.’

The two men left the room and headed down the corridor to the reception. When they passed through, Kiyoko had already gone home.

            ‘At least you leave on time here,’ Daichi said, ‘where I work you can’t go home until you’ve met your quota for the day.’

            ‘Really? That sucks,’ Suga replied as they left the practice and walked out onto the car park, ‘if I had to finish all my paperwork before I left, I’d be sleeping there.’ The atmosphere had, much to Suga’s relief, gone back to the light-hearted friendly chatting, though this time, there was an undercurrent of excitement and nervousness. After the roundabout way Daichi had asked him on a sort-of-date and the fact that he was now coming back to Suga’s apartment with him, made Suga feel almost light-headed with glee. He continued walking towards the exit to the car park, adjusting his bag as he went, before Daichi called to him.

            ‘Suga!’

Suga turned round to see Daichi a few metres behind him, standing near the entrance. Suga cocked his head to the side, confused.

            ‘I came here on my bike, I’ll have to unlock it,’ he explained.

            ‘Oh, right,’ Suga jogged back over to him and followed in around the corner to the bike racks. He watched as Daichi dug a key from his pocket and bent down to unlock the chain.

            ‘If you’ve got your bike, do you want me to give you the address and I’ll meet you there?’ Suga asked, as Daichi unravelled the chain and stood up.

            ‘Well, I was going to ask if you’d like a ride. Iwaizumi always keeps his helmet in the storage compartment on the back, and there’s more than enough room.’

It was perhaps one of the most cliché of clichés, but the prospect of sitting behind Daichi on a motorbike as they sped through the darkening streets of the town was almost enough to put Suga in an early grave.

            ‘Absolutely,’ he grinned, and Daichi almost immediately grinned back.

 

* * *

 

The roads were almost clear once they left the main town centre and rode into the outskirts. The wind blew Suga’s coat around and made hearing anything other than the deep rumble of the bike impossible. He clutched tightly onto Daichi, his arms wrapped securely around the larger man’s waist, and could feel the man’s body adjusting to the movements of the bike as they rode.

As they rounded the corner and Suga patted Daichi’s arm, pointing to the block of apartments growing steadily nearer, he couldn’t help but wish that he lived a little further away.


	9. Chapter 9

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Before anything else I'd just like to say thank you to everyone who has commented on here or over on tumblr. Your little messages mean a lot, and I'm really happy to see that people are enjoying the story, so thank you! :)
> 
> Hmm, this chapter felt all over the place when I was writing it, so I hope it's turned out okay in the end. I'm going to try updating every week now too, as all but one of my deadlines have passed, so I'll have more time to write.
> 
> As always, thank you for reading :)

Daichi pulled up to Suga’s apartment building and slowed to a stop next to the metal fencing. Reluctantly, Suga withdrew his arms from around the other man’s waist and slid off the bike. He pulled the helmet off his head and waited for Daichi to lock the bike to the railings before handing it over.

            ‘Thanks. For, erm, giving me a lift,’ Suga offered, as Dachi locked the helmets into the box on the back of the bike.

            ‘No problem,’ he smiled back, ‘I didn’t scare you did I? Iwaizumi says I always drive too fast so I tried to keep my speed down this time.’

            ‘Oh, no, not at all,’ Suga laughed. Secretly, he’d been terrified for the first few minutes, watching the tarmac rush past inches beneath his feet before he’d buried his face into Daichi’s back and closed his eyes. Once he realised he could hold onto the other man as tightly as he wanted and get away with it, the whole experience had been rather fun. In fact, he was already looking forward to the next time.

 

* * *

 

            Oikawa was, as Suga had hoped, still at work when they entered the apartment. They left their shoes and coats by the door and made their way into the living room. Sooty emerged from one of the bedrooms and sauntered lazily down towards the two men.

            ‘This is Sooty,’ explained Suga, as she wound herself around his legs, purring.

‘Oh, hello,’ Daichi crouched down to her level and let her sniff his hand before scratching her behind the ears.

‘Hm, she likes you,’ Suga said as she purred even louder.

Daichi laughed, ‘that’s a first. Most cats either run away or try to attack me.’

            ‘I don’t think she could hurt someone if her life depended on it,’ Suga said. ‘she’d rather curl up and watch a film with you than go out chasing birds.’

The two moved into the living room, followed closely by Sooty.

            ‘This is nice,’ commented Daichi, as he looked around, ‘it looks like more of a home than my place.’

            ‘It’s not much, really. Almost everything is second hand,’ said Suga, ‘why, what’s your place like?

            ‘Grey. In a word,’ Daichi chuckled, ‘I’ve never been very good at home design. Also, I’m a _really_ bad painter.’

Suga laughed and moved further into the room, ‘Everyone says that about themselves, I’m sure you’re not as bad as you think.’

            ‘In my first apartment,’ Daichi began, ‘I wanted to go for that minimal sort of look, you know like you see on television where they have a white room with one chair, a potted plant, and nothing else?’

            ‘Mhm,’ Suga hummed as he flopped down onto the blue sofa and sighed contentedly.

            ‘Well, I’d decided to have the small wall by the window a different colour, and for some reason I let the attendee at the store pick out this awful moss-green,’ Daichi winced, as though the memory pained him, ‘ _God_ knows why I agreed. It looked like sludge. Anyway, I painted the wall with it before realising that nothing else in the room was ever remotely green.’

            Suga snorted and Daichi sighed again, ‘my roommate at the time threatened to move out if I didn’t change it. He said it looked like Jabba the Hutt had sneezed in there and seriously asked if I had some sort of visual impairment.’

            ‘Oh my God,’ Suga giggled, ‘did you change it back?’

Daichi walked over and joined Suga on the sofa, leaning back into the soft cushions and closing his eyes.

            ‘No, I just bought a floor-to-ceiling bookshelf to cover it and didn’t take it with me when I moved out.’

            ‘ _Christ_ , are you serious?’ Suga laughed, covering his mouth with a hand as he looked at Daichi in amusement, ‘that’s some dedicated laziness, Daichi.’

Daichi just hummed sadly in agreement, eyes still closed. Suga turned so he was sitting with his feet up on the sofa, and studied his friend. It was only as his gaze ran over the outline of his jaw and along the sharpness of his features that Suga was once again overcome with awe at just how _handsome_ this man was. A suggestion of stubble was just about apparent across his jaw line and, coupled with his slightly ruffled hair from wearing the bike helmet, gave him a sort of rugged look. Suga bit his lip, and almost drew blood when Daichi suddenly opened his eyes and made him jump. He looked over at Suga and smiled tiredly. Suga wheezed, but quickly covered it up with a cough.

            ‘Uh, do you want anything to drink?’ he rushed out, ‘oh! Do you still want an ice pack for your head?’

            ‘I think my head’s alright now actually,’ he frowned and poked the spot where they had bumped together cautiously, ‘no, I think I’m fine. I’ll take you up on that offer of a drink though.’

            ‘Sure,’ Suga got up from the chair and stretched, hearing his back crack several times. He let out a hum of contentment and yawned, before looking down at Daichi.

            ‘You okay?’ he asked, when he heard the other man let out a strangled sort of sound. He looked down to see that Daichi had suddenly turned away from him and was refusing to meet his gaze. Suga could clearly see that the back of his neck had turned bright red. He looked down at himself and saw that his shirt had ridden up during his stretch, and hastily pulled it back down with an awkward cough.

            ‘We, uh, we h-have coffee, and tea. Or there’s some juice in the fridge I think, there might be some lemonade if you’re lucky. Obviously you can just have water if you want…’ Suga realised he was rambling and trailed off into silence.

Finally, Daichi turned around and got up from the sofa, a trace of the blush still visible across his cheeks.

            ‘Coffee is fine, thank you,’ he smiled awkwardly.

Suga suddenly noticed that dimples appeared in the corners of his mouth when Daichi smiled, and stared at them without realising.

            ‘Um, Suga, is everything alright?’

            ‘Oh!’ Suga yelped, startled out of his daydreaming, ‘y-yes, sorry. I was just thinking what coffee we had in. I’ll just have a quick look.’

Without giving Daichi time to reply, Suga sped from the room, almost stubbing his toe against the doorframe as he did so.

            ‘Pull yourself together, Suga,’ he whispered to himself as he entered the kitchen and started looking through the cupboards, ‘the man who just asked you on a date is in your apartment.’ Suga put down the mug he was holding and clamped a hand over his mouth as his eyes went wide. ‘The man who just _asked you on a date_ is _in your apartment_.’

            ‘Do you need a hand, Suga?’ came Daichi’s voice from the other room.

            ‘No!’ Suga shouted, ‘I-I mean, no thank you!’ He smacked his forehead with a hand in irritation and winced when he realised the spot was still painful from earlier.

 

            When he returned to the living room with two cups of steaming coffee, Daichi was crouched by the DVD cabinet, admiring Oikawa’s vast collection of films, and Sooty had made herself comfortable in front of the radiator.

            ‘I’d gathered he liked aliens, but wow.’

            ‘Yeah, I know,’ Suga sighed as he set the mugs down onto the coffee table and joined Daichi in front of the shelving, ‘he comes home with a new one nearly every week.’

Daichi pointed to the row of tapes along the bottom shelf.

            ‘What are these?’

            ‘Oh, those? He does interviews with athletes for the sports magazine he works for so he records their matches and stuff on them. Though that battered looking one on the end there,’ Suga pointed to a rather worn looking cassette on the far right, ‘is the taping of E.T. he made when he was a kid. He still watches it sometimes.’

            ‘Really? That’s pretty impressive,’ Daichi muttered, ‘I don’t even have a VHS player anymore.’

Suga leaned forward on his crossed legs and leant his head on a hand, watching Daichi picking out tapes at random and looking at the messily scrawled titles.

            ‘Do you want to watch one?’ Suga suggested, ‘If you open those doors at the bottom of the cabinet there’s a box of old tapes. We keep them for nostalgia reasons more than anything really.’

            ‘Oh, cool, yeah.’ Daichi pulled open the doors and slid out a cardboard box filled with tapes.

Suga watched with a soft smile as his friend pulled out tape after tape, often exclaiming how he’d forgotten the film even existed, or how he hadn’t seen it in years. Eventually, they settled on a copy of Jurassic Park, and Suga laughed at Daichi’s ill-contained glee when he said he could set it up.

            ‘This is awesome, I feel like a little kid again,’ he laughed as he pushed the tape into the machine and listened to it whir into life. Grabbing the remote from atop the television, Suga moved back across the room and slumped onto the sofa. Daichi was quick to join him and they both reached for their coffee as the screen flickered into life.

            ‘Did you fast-forward through the adverts?’ asked Suga, and Daichi scrambled for the remote.

            ‘I forgot about that, hold on.’ He pressed a button and the picture jumped through the adverts until stopping on the Universal logo. ‘There,’ he said, and leaned back into the sofa, ignoring Suga’s soft giggle.

            The opening screen burst into view accompanied by slightly crackly music, and Suga settled further into the sofa, warming his hands around the mug.

            ‘Uh, Suga?’ Daichi’s voice had a nervous tone to it, and Suga turned to see the man watching him shyly from the opposite side of the sofa.

            ‘Yeah?’ Suga asked, slowly.

            ‘Y-you can, uh, if you want to that is, I mean,’ he paused, then, in a rush, ‘d-do you want to sit with me?’

Suga frowned, confused, ‘but I am sitting with you?’

            ‘N-no, I mean,’ Daichi seemed to be having an internal struggle with something and scratched the back of his neck nervously, ‘I mean, next to me, a-as in,’ he patted the cushion next to him with his free hand, ‘ _with_ me.’

_Oh._

Suga felt his face heat up in record time and would have bet good money that it mirrored the deep flush on Daichi’s cheeks. He reasoned with himself internally. They _were_ on a sort-of-date and they _were_ watching a film together, so it was okay, wasn’t it?

            ‘I-I, uh, y-yeah, okay. Okay,’ he stuttered, and edged closer to Daichi until their arms brushed, ‘I-is this alright?’

            ‘You can, erm, come a bit closer, i-if you want,’ stammered Daichi.

Suga swallowed and shuffled even nearer. Their bodies were pressed against each other now, and if Suga was honest, it was a little bit uncomfortable. Daichi’s elbow was jabbing Suga in the ribs, and he was pretty sure this wasn’t how romantic movie watching was supposed to go. Then, without warning Daichi took a deep breath and let it out through his nose, as though preparing himself for something. He reached out, wrapped his free arm around Suga and pulled him close.

            Suga inhaled quickly at the sudden movement, but felt himself relaxing almost instantly into Daichi’s side. His arm was heavy around Suga’s shoulders, and felt warm and comforting. After a moment, he leaned further into Daichi and pulled his legs up onto the chair beside him, almost curling into the other man.

            ‘I-is this okay?’ Daichi asked, and Suga felt his grip tighten slightly.

            ‘Yeah,’ Suga murmured as he rested his head on Daichi’s chest and curled his fingers more securely around the mug, ‘yeah, this is nice.’

He felt Daichi’s grip loosen, and his body relax more into the position.

            ‘O-okay. Yeah. Okay,’ it sounded to Suga as if he was reassuring himself, and he almost laughed. Leaning his head fully against Daichi’s chest, he realised that he could hear the other man’s heartbeat, and as the film began, felt it slow from a rapid pace to a slower, more relaxed beating. Suga smiled against his mug, and couldn’t remember the last time he’d felt so happy.


	10. Chapter 10

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sorry this took a little longer to post! Finals week, I'm sure you all understand... -.- Anyway, I had a lot of fun writing this chapter so I hope you enjoy it as much as I did. Again thank you to everyone who comments, it's always nice to read what you think of my writing :)

Suga’s heart was beating a mile a minute and he was sure the grip he had on Daichi’s arm must have been painful, but he couldn’t bring himself to care. Daichi was in a similar state, wide-eyed, vision locked on the TV screen as they watched the raptors sneaking around the kitchen. They’d both seen the film countless times but the scene never failed to send a cold tremor across Suga’s skin. When the serving spoon fell to the floor with a deafening clatter, Daichi tightened his grip on Suga’s shoulder and shrunk back into the sofa. Sooty, oblivious to the men’s fright, remained peacefully sleeping under the radiator. That was, until a tremendous crash sounded and the door to the living room burst open, revealing Oikawa ominously silhouetted against the hallway light.

            ‘I’m back!’ he sang.

Daichi and Suga simultaneously screamed in absolute terror and leapt up from the sofa. Sooty let out a terrified meow of her own and sped across the room, under Oikawa’s legs and out of sight.

            ‘Wha-? Oikawa began, before being violently assaulted by a sofa cushion, ‘oophf!’ he grunted as the forced of the throw knocked him back. He looked up from the offending object where it now rested sadly against the wall, and across to the TV screen, which was blaring dramatic music as two children attempted to lock a velociraptor in an industrial freezer. His gaze then wandered over to the messy sofa, empty coffee mugs on the table, and the wide, frightened eyes of the two dishevelled-looking men.

            ‘Oh,’ he said.

 

* * *

 

            ‘You really could have knocked, you know,’ Suga sighed some time later, when a shaken Daichi had been calmed with a hot chocolate and the three men were spaced around the living room while a re-run of Adventure Time played quietly in the background. Oikawa smirked from his place on the carpet and Suga rolled his eyes.

            ‘I wish you could have seen yourselves,’ he sniggered, ‘and why would I knock in my own house?’

Suga ran his hands through his hair and groaned, ‘you know what I mean. Ugh.’ Oikawa leaned forward and Suga saw the warning sparkle in his eyes that meant he was about to say something Suga wouldn’t like.

            ‘You should have told me you were having a little date,’ he winked at Suga and looked over to Daichi, who was nursing his hot chocolate like his life depended on it. Suga raised an eyebrow.

            ‘Why would I tell you that?’ he asked. Oikawa sat up straight and the look on his face was as if Suga had just told him that earth had made contact with extra terrestrial life forms.

            ‘Oooh! So it _was_ a date!’ he laughed and jumped to his feet. He skipped over to Daichi and slapped him on the shoulder rather forcefully. Daichi grunted in surprise and attempted to stop his drink from sloshing over the sides of the mug as Oikawa boasted about how he’d ‘known all along’ and how he was ‘so proud he might cry.’ Daichi turned to Suga and mouthed the words ‘ _help me.’_ Suga stifled a laugh and shook his head, mouthing back _‘I’m sorry.’_

            After Oikawa had finished his suspiciously rehearsed-sounding speech, he (to the man’s obvious relief) left Daichi’s side and walked over to the door.

            ‘I’m going to change out of my work clothes. Have you eaten already?’

Suga heard his stomach rumble at the mention of food and realised that no, they had not eaten. He turned to Daichi in horror.

            ‘Oh my God, I am so sorry,’ Suga gasped, mortified, ‘I didn’t even offer you anything to eat! Are you hungry?’

Daichi downed the last of his hot chocolate and yawned loudly before replying.

            ‘A little,’ he confessed, ‘but don’t apologise, I forgot too. I think the scare saw to that.’

He looked over to Oikawa, still a little wary, and the other had the grace to look ashamed.

            ‘I am sorry about that,’ Oikawa said, ‘but next time there’s a sudden intruder you’ll be better prepared!’

            ‘Let’s just hope next time it’s not you,’ Suga mumbled under his breath, and Daichi snorted loudly.

            ‘Huh?’ questioned Oikawa, but Suga hopped up from his place on the sofa and started to gently push Oikawa out of the room.

            ‘Nothing you need to worry about,’ he smiled, ‘off you go, get changed. Then we’ll order something.’

            ‘But what a-‘

            ‘Off you go!’ Suga cut him off, and with one last push, manoeuvred Oikawa into the hallway and closed the door in his confused face.

            ‘Sugaaaaaa,’ came his voice from the other side of the door.

            ‘Go on or I’ll ask for pineapple for the pizza toppings,’ Suga threatened.

There was a gasp from the other side.

            ‘You _wouldn’t._ ’

            ‘I _will._ ’

Oikawa huffed and Suga heard the footsteps fade into silence as he finally left to get changed. When he was certain that his roommate had gone for the moment, Suga turned around and leant heavily against the door. He sighed and looked over at Daichi, who still hadn’t moved from the chair. Suga felt the smile growing on his face, mirroring the one on Daichi’s. Within seconds they were both helpless with laughter, Daichi bent over forwards with his arms around his waist and Suga leaning on the door frame for support. All the emotions from the last couple of hours seemed to come to a head and rendered the two men incapable of anything other than unattractive snorting sounds and wheezing gasps for air. Eventually, Daichi regained control of his breathing.

            ‘So,’ he managed, ‘about that pizza?’

Suga looked down at him and smiled. He’d been head butted, asked out, cuddled, and scared shitless all in a single evening. Daichi smiled back. It had been the best evening of his life.

 

* * *

 

            ‘Nooo,’ Oikawa groaned from where he was lying on the carpet, holding his stomach and shooting an intense look of death at the half-full pizza box that Suga was slowly edging toward him with his foot.

            ‘It was your idea to get three massive pizzas,’ Suga chided, ‘I told you we wouldn’t manage them.’

            ‘Speak for yourself,’ said Daichi as he reached for another piece.

Suga looked incredulous. ‘That’s your _tenth_ slice! How are you not full? He leaned over and prodded Daichi in the stomach. ‘Where does it all go?’ Daichi yelped in surprise as Suga continued to poke him, a look of intense concentration on his face.

            ‘Hey!’ He batted Suga’s hand away and laughed. ‘You said I could have as much as I wanted.’

            ‘I didn’t think you’d eat nearly two of them though!’ Suga giggled as Daichi looked him defiantly in the eye and crammed as much of the slice he was holding into his mouth as he could.

            ‘That’s disgusting!’ Suga yelled, and hid his face in his hands while Daichi continued to chuckle deeply through his mouthful.

            ‘I’m still here you know,’ came Oikawa’s pained voice from the floor next to them.

            ‘What a shame,’ Suga deadpanned, and Daichi started to choke violently.

            ‘You’re so mean. I’m practically on the verge of death, you should be crying, or…’ he waved his hand around in the air weakly, trying to think of something, ‘reading out sad eulogies.’ He pushed himself into a sitting position with a whimper. ‘Something like: ‘Oikawa was a selfless gentleman and this world will suffer in the wake of his loss.”

He raised his arms above his head as though he was centre stage in some dramatic play. Suga and Daichi watched in silence, both lost for words.

‘There will never again come a time wher-‘ abruptly, he stopped and grabbed his stomach. There was a loud gurgle and his cheeks went pale.

            ‘I’m going to lie down,’ he said very quickly in a weak voice, and got unsteadily to his feet.

            ‘Do you need help?’ asked Daichi, frowning as Oikawa swayed slightly where he stood.

            ‘No thank you,’ another gurgle, louder this time, and when he spoke again he sounded rather strained, ‘it was good to see you again, but I, uh,’ he shuffled slowly over to the door and gave a weak wave, ‘I need to lie down so, uh, I’ll see you some other time.’

Daichi waved back unsurely. ‘Yeah…’ he said. With a click, the living room door closed behind him and Daichi and Suga listened in silence to his whining and muttering as he left in the direction of his bedroom.

            ‘Is he, uh,’ Daichi started, ‘is he going to be okay?’

Suga looked at the closed door for a moment before turning to Daichi and sighing.

            ‘He’ll be fine. He just ate too much. It was probably because I told him he’d never finish it all before.’ Suga scratched at the back of his neck in thought. ‘He’s very competitive. It’s why he’s so good at his job. You should see the kind of things he gets into when he’s trying to beat other journalists to a special interview.’ Suga laughed softly. ‘It’s almost scary.’

Daichi hummed in thought before looking at the clock on the mantle.

            ‘Shit,’ he jumped to his feet, ‘I’d better get going. I didn’t know I’d stayed this long, Iwaizumi will think I’ve been mugged or something.’

Suga felt something fall heavily in his chest, he’d known Daichi couldn’t stay forever but even so, the evening had just gone so quickly.

            ‘O-oh, yeah, of course. I’ll see you out.’

Suga stood and brushed off some of the pizza crumbs from his trousers before leading the way out of the room and down the hall.

            As Daichi was leaning down to tie his shoelaces, Suga noticed a tiny piece of blue fluff stuck to his hair on the top of his head. Probably from leaning on the sofa, he reasoned internally before reaching out to remove it. Just as his fingertips brushed the soft strands of hair, Daichi straightened up. This caused Suga’s hand to slip down from the top of his head and brush over the skin of his cheek. Suga froze. Daichi froze. He looked at Suga, up to where his hand was rigid against his face, and back to Suga. Both men turned scarlet.

            ‘I-I-,‘ Suga stuttered, ‘t-there was some fluff. In your hair. From, from the sofa.’

            ‘O-oh.’

Suga still hadn’t moved his hand. He could feel the warmth from Daichi’s cheek and found it soothing somehow. He looked from his hand, to Daichi, and back again, then in a bold move slowly traced his fingers across the other man’s skin. He heard Daichi inhale, but he didn’t move away. Suga took this as a good sign and ran his fingers gently down Daichi’s cheek, stopping when he reached the curve of his jaw.

            ‘Suga…’ Daichi’s voice was almost a whisper.

Suga looked away from where his fingers were gently trailing delicate touches down his neck and up at Daichi. His face was completely red, and he was watching Suga with an expression so fond that Suga felt himself grow weak.

            ‘Suga, can… can I…’ Daichi reached up cautiously and ran the very tips of his fingers through Suga’s hair. Suga felt goosebumps erupt across the back of his neck at the touch, and unconsciously leaned in to the other man’s hand. Daichi, growing more confident, slid his fingers deeper into the silvery strands and rested his palm gently on the back of Suga’s head.

            They looked at each other and Suga felt a strange kind of tingling sensation in the tips of his fingers. His heart was beating far too fast and he was almost positive that Daichi’s pulse matched his own. He watched as Daichi’s gaze flickered down to Suga’s lips and back up again. He felt the other man’s fingernails scratch slightly against his scalp as he adjusted his hand and drew in a sharp breath.

            Daichi lifted his other arm and brushed his knuckles against Suga’s cheek, then, voice barely audible, whispered, ‘can I kiss you?’

Suga felt the air rush from his lungs and nodded rapidly, ‘yes, _yes,_ _please_.’

Daichi let the hand that was resting on Suga’s check slide down to cup his jaw and slowly began to lean in. Suga could hear his blood pounding, deafening in his ears, and let his eyes slide closed.

            Just as he felt Daichi’s breath ghost across his lips, there was an almighty roaring sound from somewhere in front of him. Daichi’s hands shot away from his face immediately and Suga was left dazed and confused as Daichi fumbled around in his jacket pocket, cursing under his breath. It was a phone ringtone, Suga realised, and sounded something like ‘yabba dabba doooo!’

            ‘What the hell is that!’ he yelled, as the opening to _The Flintstones_ started to play extraordinarily loudly from Daichi’s pocket.

            ‘Shit, why, _why_ , of all times, _why!’_ Daichi continued to mutter angrily as he ripped his phone from his pocket, jabbed at the _‘answer’_ button and lifted the phone to his ear.

            ‘ _What,_ what? Sorry, no, I… yeah, no, I’m at Suga’s, I’m on my way back now. Yeah, sure, yeah. Okay, see you in a bit, bye. Bye.’

            The sudden silence seemed even louder than the horrific ringtone, and neither man said anything for a good thirty seconds. Daichi was studying the carpet in shame, and Suga was staring, open mouthed.

            ‘ _Why_ ,’ he stressed, after a moment, ‘do you have _The Flintstones_ , as your ringtone?’

Daichi sighed heavily and shoved his phone back into his pocket before looking up at Suga. ‘I lost a bet,’ he said, simply.

            ‘Right.’

Another moment of awkward silence passed.

            ‘That was Iwaizumi, wondering where I was. I guess I’d best get back.’ He gestured at the door behind him and offered Suga an apologetic smile.

            ‘Y-yeah, yeah it’s late. I’ll get the door.’ He moved past Daichi and pulled the front door open. Daichi didn’t move for a second, seemingly in deep thought.

            ‘Do you want to do this again? I mean, actually go out somewhere,’ he asked nervously.

            ‘Definitely.’ Suga didn’t even hesitate. Daichi looked up and met his eyes. The two men looked at each other for a second before both bursting out into raucous laughter.

            When they’d managed to gather their wits and calm down, Daichi zipped up his coat at smiled at Suga before making his way out of the open door.

            ‘I’ll text you,’ he said, ‘when I get home.’

            ‘Okay.’ Suga nodded, still smiling. He leant against the frame and rested his head on the wood.

            ‘Thank you for inviting me over, it’s been… I’ve really enjoyed it.’

            ‘I’m sorry about Oikawa again.’ Suga winced. ‘I’d completely lost track of time, I should have known he’d be on his way back.’

Daichi chuckled. ‘Don’t worry about it.’ He stepped away from the door and headed toward the stairs. ‘I’ll talk to you in a bit then, as soon as I’m home.’

            ‘Don’t rush, make sure you get there in one piece or you’ll never get to take me out on that date,’ Suga teased, and laughed again when Daichi’s cheeks took on the familiar red tint. ‘Talk to you later, Daichi.’

            ‘Yeah, later, Suga.’ He waved once and Suga watched the top of his head bob out of sight as he descended the stairs. He waited by the door until he heard the distant rumble of the man’s motorbike and caught himself gently tracing his fingers over the part of his jaw that Daichi had been holding.

            ‘Next time,’ he said to himself, ‘definitely next time.’

With a heavy sigh, Suga turned back inside the apartment and closed the door, and if anyone asked, he definitely didn’t spend the next fifteen minutes staring at his phone until it beeped with an incoming message.  


	11. Chapter 11

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> I'm sorry this is so late!!! Life kind of knocked me off my feet for a couple of weeks there but I'm back on track now! This is a little shorter than some of the other chapters but I just wanted to get something out there. As always, thank you for reading!

Suga stumbled into the apartment late Friday night. He kicked off his shoes, dropped his briefcase by the door, and shuffled into the kitchen. With a drawn out yawn he dragged a mug out from the cupboard and began to make the world’s slowest cup of tea.

            ‘Well look who finally decided to show up.’

Suga yawned again and looked up to see Oikawa leaning against the kitchen doorframe, watching him with raised eyebrows.

            ‘What kept you this time?’ he asked, before moving to stand next to Suga and leaning against the countertop.

            ‘Paperwork.’ Suga sighed and rubbed at his eyes. ‘They’re moving me into an upstairs office so I had to get everything sorted properly.’ There was a click as the kettle finished boiling, though Suga made no move towards it.

            ‘Hmm.’ Oikawa leaned back to stare at the ceiling before tilting his head to the side and regarding Suga with a mischievous smirk. ‘You won’t be too tired for tomorrow though, will you?’

Suga looked up and frowned. Oikawa huffed and turned around to rest on his elbows.

            ‘We’re meeting with your boyfriend and Iwa-chan, remember?’

            ‘He’s not my boyfriend,’ Suga mumbled, ‘and of course I won’t be too tired.’

There was a beeping sound and Oikawa reached into his back pocket. Suga watched as he pulled out his phone and began tapping away frantically. He watched even closer as he saw a soft smile appear on his friend’s face, and raised his eyebrows in question.

            ‘By any chance, is that _Iwa-chan_?’ Suga taunted. Oikawa jumped at the sound of his voice and clutched the phone to his chest.

            ‘So what if it is?’ he said defensively.

            ‘Well,’ Suga grinned, ‘you just look rather happy, is all.’ He ignored Oikawa’s embarrassed spluttering and finally poured himself some tea, a satisfied smirk on his face. ‘How did you get his number anyway? I hope not through some stalker-ish method.’

            ‘I’m not that bad and you know it,’ Oikawa said, and tucked his phone back into his pocket. ‘I ran into him in town the other day, he was on his lunch break at the same time as me so we talked for a bit.’

Suga hummed and lifted his mug to his lips, taking a tentative sip.

            ‘It’s not like you can talk anyway,’ Oikawa continued, ‘you’re never away from your phone. I bet you’re even sending each other sappy ‘good morning’ texts.’

Suga choked on his tea and glared at Oikawa.

            ‘Of course we’re not.’ They were.

Oikawa just grinned and turned to leave. ‘Whatever you say,’ he sang, before turning into the hallway and out of sight. Suga heard his bedroom door close a few seconds later and exhaled heavily through his nose.

Suga finished his tea in the kitchen, too exhausted to face the long walk down the hallway to the living room. He caught himself thinking of the almost-kiss for what must have been the thousandth time since Wednesday night. Reaching up, he ran his fingers over his jaw again and sighed before dropping his mug into the sink and heading to his bedroom.

            Sooty greeted him with a surprised meow from her place on his pillow as he walked inside and closed the door behind himself.

            ‘Alright, alright,’ he cooed as she wrapped herself around his legs, purring loudly. He shrugged off his jacket and hung it on the back of his door before leaning down and scratching her on the head. ‘Had a tough day sleeping again, hmm?’ He stepped away from Sooty and changed into a pair of old pyjama trousers. They were faded and threadbare, but far too comfy to get rid of. Suga yawned again and collapsed onto his bed. Sooty immediately jumped up and nestled herself against his side, nudging his hand. He got the point and resumed running his fingers through her fur before closing his eyes. He thought again of the touch of Daichi’s fingertips across his skin, and the feel of the other man’s presence, so close. Suga huffed and turned his head to the side, watching the digital display on his alarm clock tick over to eleven. Another few hours and he’d see him again. Suga fell asleep unsure as to whether the tingling feeling in his stomach was from nerves or excitement.

 

* * *

 

He awoke to an obnoxiously loud knocking on his bedroom door.

            ‘Are you up or what?’ came Oikawa’s voice from the hall. Of course. Suga peeked out from under his duvet.

            ‘Yes,’ he murmured, and yawned loudly.

            ‘That doesn’t sound very awake to me, do I need to come in there?’ he teased, and began to rattle the door handle.

            ‘No!’ Suga shouted, and threw back his covers before leaping out of the bed and over to the door, ‘I’m up, I’m up!’

Oikawa’s cackling drowned out the sound of the lock as Suga turned it and pulled his bedroom door wide. Three things happened in quick succession. One: Suga stepped into the hallway and saw not one, but three men standing outside his room. Two: he realised that he was wearing nothing but a pair of old pyjama trousers and was probably sporting the world’s biggest bedhead. Three: he jumped back into his room and slammed the door shut on all three of their stunned faces. He turned around and rested his back against the door, covering his face with his hands. Sooty winked open one eye from the foot of his bed to see what all the fuss was about.

            ‘W-why didn’t you tell me they were already here!’ Suga shouted, slightly muffled.

            ‘Have you even seen what time it is?’ Oikawa laughed. Suga took three quick strides from his door to his bedside table and looked at the clock with wide eyes. Ten past one in the afternoon. He turned back to face the door and ran a hand through his hair in frustration.

            ‘Oikawa I hate you, you could have woken me up before they got here you know. Ugh.’ He rubbed his eyes and scowled at Oikawa’s chuckle from the other side of the door.

            ‘I thought you always said you were the responsible one?’ he teased, ‘We’ll wait in the living room for you, sleeping beauty, though if you take too long I might have to send in your prince charming here.’

Suga heard Daichi spluttering, a pained ‘oof’ from Oikawa, then ‘ _Iwa-chan_ , that _hurt_.’

 

Ten minutes later, Suga closed his bedroom door and cautiously approached the living room. He turned the corner to see the room empty aside from Daichi standing at the window, shifting his weight from foot to foot. He was wearing a grey t-shirt and jeans instead of his normal biking outfit, though the leather jacket was still slung loosely around his shoulders.

            ‘Hey,’ Suga said quietly. Daichi jumped and turned around to face him.

            ‘Uh, hi.’ He scratched the back of his neck and didn’t meet Suga’s eyes for a few seconds.

            ‘Where did Oikawa and Iwaizumi go?’ Suga asked as Daichi made his way across the room towards him.

            ‘They said they’d wait outside for us.’ Daichi coughed. ‘Well Oikawa said a lot more than that but-‘

            ‘I can imagine.’ Suga cut him off, then sighed and smiled apologetically up at Daichi. ‘Sorry about earlier, I was kind of rude.’

            ‘Oh, no, no it’s fine. I thought you were already up.’ Daichi followed Suga out into the hallway and leaned against the wall as Suga pulled on his shoes. ‘Long day at work yesterday?’

            ‘The longest.’

The two men left the apartment and jogged down the stairs to where Oikawa and Iwaizumi were waiting at the bottom.

            ‘Took you long enough,’ complained Oikawa when he caught sight of them, ‘let’s get going!’

Suga looked at Daichi. ‘Where _are_ we going?’

            ‘We thought the lake just outside of town would be a good idea,’ Iwaizumi said, twirling his helmet around in one hand and tapping the rail of the stairs with the other. ‘Sound good to you?’

            ‘Yeah, sure.’ Suga nodded and smiled at them all before jumping down from the last step. ‘Let’s go!’

 

* * *

 

The sun warmed Suga’s back and reflected harshly from the polished metal of Daichi’s motorbike as they sped along the main road out of town. He could hear the roar of Iwaizumi’s bike behind them and risked a glance backwards. The two men’s faces were covered by the helmets, but Suga would have bet a month’s wages that Oikawa was still wearing the huge grin that had appeared on his face as soon as he’d seen a second bike waiting out in the car park. Daichi made a sudden turn and Suga whipped back around, strengthening his hold around his waist.

            They turned a corner and the road opened up in front of them, miles of empty tarmac stretched out ahead.

            ‘Hey, Suga,’ Daichi shouted from in front. Suga leaned forward to hear and their helmets bumped together with a loud tap.

            ‘S-sorry, what is it?’ he yelled back.

            ‘Want to have a bit of fun?’

There was an edge to Daichi’s voice that Suga hadn’t heard before, almost mischievous. Suga felt a shiver run through his body and laughed nervously.

            ‘Yeah, sure.’

Daichi laughed deep, and Suga felt the vibration where his chest was pressed securely against Daichi’s back. They straightened up on the road and began to slowly gather speed. Suga heard Iwaizumi’s bike nearing closer until it pulled into sight alongside Daichi’s. He watched as Daichi made some kind of hand signal to Iwaizumi, and the other man nod in response.

            ‘What’s going on?’ Suga shouted to Daichi.

            ‘Just hold on tight,’ he laughed back.

Suga grabbed onto the material of Daichi’s jacket and squeezed his eyes shut. He felt more than heard something in the bike change, Daichi shifted slightly and all at once they were racing along the road, wind roaring past louder than the sound of the bikes. Suga felt like he’d left his stomach somewhere in the guttering behind them. Daichi urged the bike faster and faster until Suga was almost scared he might lose hold and fly off it. A yell from somewhere to his right caused him to snap open his eyes, though it took all his willpower not to close them again.

            ‘Holy shit!’ It was Oikawa, screaming like a kid on a rollercoaster as the other bike raced alongside them at an ungodly speed. Suga turned his head and looked over Daichi’s shoulder ahead. They’d well and truly left the town behind now. The road sat empty aside from the odd car which both men expertly steered around without slowing. It was trees and open fields as far as he could see, the wind tearing through his clothes and the rumbling of the bike creating the biggest sense of euphoria Suga had ever experienced.

            ‘This is amazing!’ he yelled to Daichi, feeling the laughter spill out of his mouth uncontrollably as he watched the road rush past beneath them. He heard another shout from Oikawa and watched with wide eyes as Iwaizumi leaned forward and urged his bike even faster, quickly overtaking Daichi and zooming away down the road in a matter of seconds. 

            After a few more minutes Suga felt the bike begin to slow, and relaxed his grip slightly. The trees thinned out and Daichi slowed right down before turning onto a dirt track to the right. The ground was rough, and Suga felt it immediately as they bumped along until finally coming to a stop next to Iwaizumi and Oikawa, who were leaning against their bike, red faced and laughing to each other. Suga slid off the bike and almost stumbled to the ground. The adrenaline had knocked him weak and he would have fallen onto the dusty soil if not for Daichi, who jumped off the bike and wrapped one arm around Suga’s waist before chuckling.

            ‘I take it you enjoyed that?’

Suga grinned up at him and laughed again, ‘absolutely. That was awesome.’

 

            The ground was warm to the touch when Suga took off his shoes and rolled up his trousers. He heard Daichi jogging over and turned around so see him carrying a water bottle.

            ‘Want some?’ he asked, handing Suga the bottle. Suga nodded and took several long gulps before handing it back.

            ‘This weather, I swear it’s not supposed to be this warm for another four months,’ Daichi mused as he finished off the water and threw the empty bottle into a bin on the edge of the car park. ‘You coming?’

Suga nodded and straightened up. He looked down to the edge of the lake and could make out Oikawa jumping about in the shallows, attempting to splash a very unimpressed Iwaizumi.

            ‘He’s going to get thrown in in a minute,’ Suga commented idly as they made their way down the path.

            ‘That’s an idea,’ hummed Daichi, and the mischievous tone had returned to his voice. Suga looked up and saw something flash across his friend’s face.

            ‘No. No, you are _not_ throwing me into the lake.’

Daichi raised an eyebrow and Suga took that as his cue to run away as quickly as possible. The slap of their bare feet on the sandy shore of the lake competed with the noise of their laughter as the two men raced down towards the water. Suga ran towards Oikawa, unable to speak through his laughter, but before he could shout for help he felt two strong arms encircle him from behind and lift him high into the air.

            ‘Aha! No! Put me down!’ he giggled and tried to pull out of Daichi’s grip, but it was no use.

            ‘Wouldn’t you like to go for a swim, Suga?’ Daichi teased, carrying him dangerously close to the water’s edge.

            ‘No!’ he shrieked with laughter and batted at Daichi’s arms. Gently, Daichi lowered him to the ground, though he didn’t let go completely. Suga tried to get his breath back and twisted so he was facing Daichi. He pressed one hand against the other man’s chest and giggled again.

            ‘I hate you.’

            ‘No you don’t.’

The two looked at each other and smiled. No, he realised, hate was the exact opposite of what Suga felt for Daichi.


	12. Chapter 12

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I am sorry this is so short, there's just a lot going on at the moment... work, interviews, graduation, you know how it is -.- Anyway, it's taken eleven chapters but we're finally at one of the scenes I most wanted to write! (ﾉ◕ヮ◕)ﾉ Enjoy!!

            ‘Hey!’

Oikawa’s shout shook them both from the moment and Suga swore to whatever deity was listening that he would one day actually strangle his best friend. Daichi looked over to where the other two men were standing and dropped his hands away from around Suga’s waist. Suga looked up at him but Daichi refused to meet his eyes.

            ‘Oi!’ Oikawa shouted again, before pointing at a little hut next to the lake, ‘we should go on one of those!’

Suga followed the direction of his pointing and saw a huddle of small peddle boats tethered next to the hut with a large sign reading ‘All Day Rent-a-Boat.’

            ‘I am _not_ getting on a boat with Oikawa,’ Suga stated, and heard a deep rumble from in front of him. He looked up to see Daichi chuckling.

            ‘What?’ he glared.

            ‘Oh come on, it can’t be that bad,’ Daichi said, laughing at Suga’s disgruntled expression.

 

Ten minutes and the contents of his wallet later, Suga realised that Daichi was absolutely right. It wasn’t that bad at all. It was worse.

            ‘Oikawa I swear to God if you don’t steer this thing straight I will actually throw you into the lake,’ Suga yelled, holding onto the side of the boat as it rocked violently from side to side.

            ‘You can’t talk!’ he yelled back, ‘you’re not even doing anything! You don’t know how difficult this is!’

            Originally Iwaizumi was going to steer the boat while the rest of them peddled, but he fell pray to Oikawa’s ‘look,’ resulting in the current situation with Daichi and Suga terrified in the back seats, and Iwaizumi fearing for his life in the passenger. Suga couldn’t see his face, but the skin on his knuckles had turned white where he was gripping the handrail.

            ‘Left! Turn left!’ Now it was Daichi shouting, holding onto Oikawa’s headrest for dear life as they swiftly approached a large rock. Nobody was peddling anymore, but the momentum continued to carry them along a collision course with the stone. Abruptly, Iwaizumi seemed to snap out of whatever fear-induced trance he had fallen into and launched himself across the boat, pushing Oikawa out of the way and grabbing the wheel.

            ‘You idiot, you’re going to get us all killed!’ he shouted as he spun the wheel rapidly and turned the little boat seconds before it would have smashed into the rock.

Nobody spoke for almost a full minute as the boat slowed to a stop and began to sway gently on the water.

            ‘Iwa-chan, that was really heroic of you,’ Oikawa marvelled, looking up to the other man who still hadn’t let go of the wheel and was almost squashing Oikawa against the side of the boat. Suga saw a deep red blush sweep up the back of Iwaizumi’s neck before the man let go of the wheel and slid back over to his side of the boat.

            ‘If you weren’t such an idiot I wouldn’t have had to do anything,’ he grumbled in response.

Suga giggled and looked over at Daichi, who was watching the two with an amused look on his face. He turned to Suga and they shared a knowing grin.

            ‘I think Iwaizumi should steer from now on,’ Suga said, trying to keep the laughter out of his voice.

            ‘Oh come on, I’m sure I can get the hang of it!’ Oikawa whined but Iwaizumi cut him off with a sharp ‘no’ and stood up, gesturing for Oikawa to move over. The two men swapped seats with several muttered complaints and the boat rocked dangerously again before calming as Iwaizumi settled into his new seat, and Oikawa sulked in his.

            ‘Right,’ huffed Iwaizumi, ‘shall we try again?’

 

The lake was a large, more or less circular in shape with a little island in the middle. It was on this small mound of land that the four men found themselves as the heat of the afternoon sun began to lessen, and the shine off the water wasn’t so blinding. They’d done a few laps of the lake before Oikawa called for a rest and they decided to dock.

            ‘Why didn’t we think to bring any water with us,’ Oikawa groaned from where he sat on the sand, sifting it gently between his fingers.

            ‘There’s a shop by the rental place, we can go there after, ‘Suga said, sitting down next to him with a sigh and stretching his legs out in front of him.

            ‘They do ice cream too,’ Daichi added as he joined them, ‘I checked the board when we were signing for the boat.’ Suga raised an eyebrow at the almost childlike tone of Daichi’s voice but didn’t comment. Iwaizumi flopped down next to Oikawa and lay back, arms behind his head, before closing his eyes. The hem of his shirt rose up as he lifted his arms and Suga put a hand over his mouth to stifle a snort when he saw how wide Oikawa’s eyes grew at the sight.

            The four sat like that for a while, watching a handful of other peddle boats drift across the lake and feeling the sun softly warming their skin. Idle conversation passed between the group, broken occasionally by a hearty laugh from Iwaizumi, usually at Oikawa’s expense. Eventually Suga stood up and dusted the sand from his legs before rolling his trousers up as far as they would go and turning to face the others, hands on his hips.

            ‘I’m going down to the water, seeing as you lot are too chicken,’ he announced with a challenging tone. Iwaizumi cracked one eye open but made no effort to move.

            ‘Have fun,’ said Oikawa from where he sat next to Iwaizumi, ‘I bet you’ll catch a disease from that water.’

            ‘It’s not that dirty, I bet you just don’t want to get your hair wet,’ Suga chided. He knew he was right when Oikawa scowled and turned his attention back to the tiny shell he’d managed to find.

            ‘I’ll come with you.’ It was Daichi. Suga turned to him with a smile.

            ‘At least _someone_ around here isn’t a boring old fart,’ he said. Suga could have sworn he heard Iwaizumi mutter ‘yeah, Oikawa’ under his breath before being punched in the knee by the man himself. He could hear Iwaizumi’s loud laughter as he walked away from the two and down to the water’s edge with Daichi.

            ‘I’m glad they get on so well,’ Daichi commented as they walked.

            ‘Yeah,’ Suga agreed.

They reached the water and cautiously waded in. Suga gasped as he felt the chill sweep across his skin.

            ‘T-this is colder that I thought,’ hissed Daichi.

            ‘I think I-I’ll just sit at the edge,’ said Suga quickly, before backtracking and wading back out of the ice-cold lake, followed closely by Daichi. The two reached dry land and sat down heavily onto the sand. Suga turned around and saw Oikawa and Iwaizumi talking quietly with their heads together a little way off. He turned back and looked at Daichi, who was trying to rub some warmth back into his feet.

            ‘That wasn’t the best idea I’ve ever had,’ he muttered. Suga dug his fingers into the sand and sat in silence for a moment, before an idea sprang to mind and he jumped to his feet.

            ‘I know what’ll warm us up,’ he stated proudly. Daichi looked up at him, almost cautious of the wide grin on Suga’s face. ‘A walk!’ 

            ‘Suga,’ Daichi began, slowly, ‘I don’t know if you’ve noticed this but, um, we’re kind of on an island…’

            ‘We can still walk around it though, to the other side of the trees and back,’ Suga said, before pausing and looking away from Daichi, the smile slipping slightly, ‘only if you want to though, obviously.’

Daichi got to his feet and moved close to Suga. He reached out and brushed a droplet of water from Suga’s arm. Suga felt a shiver run through his body and it wasn’t from the cold.

            ‘Of course I want to,’ he smiled, and tapped Suga’s chin lightly to make the other man look up at him, ‘I told you before, I _want_ to spend time with you.’

            ‘O-oh,’ Suga stuttered and felt himself blush, ‘w-well then, let’s go.’

The two men set off across the sand, leaving Oikawa and Iwaizumi as they walked behind the trees. Suga felt the cool softness of the soil under his feet and ran his fingers over the bumps in the bark of the trees they passed. They walked in silence for half a minute, until the lake was obscured from their vision and they could no longer hear the voices of other people on the boats.

            ‘It’s nice in here,’ Suga commented as they came to a stop. He turned around to see Daichi looking up into the canopy.

            ‘It feels bigger than it looked from the boat,’ Daichi said, before looking back down at Suga and moving closer again. ‘I do mean it, you know,’ his voice was lower now, quieter, ‘I like spending time with you.’

Suga opened his mouth to speak but the words evaded him entirely when Daichi took a deep breath, grabbed Suga’s hands in his own and rushed out ‘I like you.’

            ‘I…’ Suga started, but Daichi’s words had knocked the air from his lungs and he seemed to have forgotten how to speak properly. Daichi looked up at him, more confident this time, and smiled so warmly that Suga felt something spark across his skin from where their hands were joined. The sun filtered through the gaps in the leaves above, and sprinkled soft light through Daichi’s hair and across his skin. Suga felt himself grow weak.

            ‘I like you, Suga,’ he repeated, and this time when he leaned in, there were no distractions. No phone ringtones, no Oikawa, just the feel of gentle breath across his cheeks before the soft press of Daichi’s lips against his. He felt warmth spread through his entire body as his eyes slid shut. _Finally_ , he thought, before Daichi pulled away. It was brief, far too brief for Suga’s liking, but by the time Suga opened his eyes, dazed, and looked up, the other man was looking away purposefully, red cheeked and silent.

            ‘I had to do that,’ Daichi muttered, still avoiding eye contact, ‘I just had to.’

Suga smiled lazily and ran his hands up the other man’s arms until they came to rest around his neck.

            ‘Daichi,’ he murmured, ‘ _Daichi._ ’

Daichi looked back up to Suga, all the bravado from before seeming to have flown away, leaving him with a nervous expression.

            ‘I like you too.’ Suga whispered, leaning forward so their foreheads touched. He felt Daichi huff a nervous laugh out against his lips, and couldn’t help but grin in response. They looked at each other for a long moment, and Suga felt Daichi’s arms reach cautiously around his waist before suddenly pulling him against his chest. Suga raised an eyebrow and Daichi laughed softly once more before leaning in again and pressing another kiss to Suga’s lips. This time is was slower, more confident, Suga tilted his head slightly to the side and ran one hand through Daichi’s hair, feeling the other man shift in response and tighten his hold around Suga’s waist.

            _Finally,_ thought Suga again. _Finally._


	13. Chapter 13

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I think this was my favourite chapter to write ｡◕‿‿◕｡ Also I'll be travelling for a couple of weeks this month so the next update might take a little longer than usual, sorry about that...   
> I'm thrilled that people are enjoying the story so much, thank you all for continuing to read and comment, it means a lot to me :) I'm also thinking of taking short writing prompts over on tumblr so feel free to message!   
> As always, hope you enjoy!

The distant sound of voices pushed Suga harshly back into reality. He opened his eyes, slowly, to see Daichi’s still closed. For the half-second before the other man opened them to look down at Suga fondly, he studied the look on his face. Daichi seemed relieved, almost, a heavy blush across his cheeks accompanied by a shy smile. The two men said nothing for a long moment, instead filling the space where words might have been with soft gazes and gentle touches. Suga threaded his fingers through Daichi’s hair and giggled quietly when Daichi closed his eyes and leaned slightly into Suga’s hands.

            ‘You’re like a cat,’ Suga whispered eventually, laughter evident in his voice. Daichi snapped his eyes open and he frowned.

            ‘Huh?’

            ‘It’s what Sooty does,’ Suga dropped his hands from around Daichi’s neck, ‘when she wants attention.’ He reached behind his back and took hold of Daichi’s arms, pulling them away from his waist.

            ‘It just… feels nice, that’s all,’ Daichi mumbled as Suga brought their hands in front of them and threaded their fingers together.

            ‘Mhmm,’ hummed Suga, the smile never leaving his face. ‘So, uh,’ Suga began, as Daichi started to rub circles across his knuckles, ‘do this mean that we’re like, _together,_ now?’ Daichi stopped and looked up at Suga, blush returning full force.

            ‘W-well, uh, I kind of, you know,’ he looked away, then quickly back up, ‘thought so. U-unless you want me to ask you properly…’ He trailed off and the two men fell silent. They stared at each other, and continued to stare until they both started to giggled stupidly. The laughter got louder and louder until eventually they were leaning on one another for support, snorting uncontrollably, something that neither of them would ever admit to afterward. They were interrupted by a loud voice somewhere to their right, and both looked up, startled, in time to see Oikawa picking his way through the trees.

            ‘Ugh, Iwa-chan, I think there’s a bug in my hair,’ he whined, ‘get it out please?’ Iwaizumi stepped into view behind him and huffed.

            ‘For the love of- here, keep still.’ Oikawa whimpered as Iwaizumi lifted up the soft strands of hair and peered underneath them. ‘Jesus Christ!’ he yelled suddenly, leaping backwards.

            ‘What! What is it! Get it out Iwa-chan get it out!’ Oikawa started to hit himself violently on the head in an attempt to get the bug out of his hair.

            ‘It’s, it’s h-huge!’ Iwaizumi shouted, backing further away from Oikawa until he came to rest against the trunk of a tree, fear etched into his face. Suga and Daichi looked on, perplexed. It was only after half a minute of Oikawa screaming, jumping around, and hitting himself that Suga noticed Iwaizumi was doubled over, leaning against the tree for support. He looked like he was about to be sick. That was until Suga saw him shaking. Daichi looked at Suga with an expression that seemed to say ‘what the hell is going on?’ Suga grinned and pointed at Iwaizumi, who straightened up and began to howl with laughter.

            ‘Oh my God,’ Iwaizumi choked out, before continuing to laugh,‘s-stop, aha, _stop him_.’ He pointed at Oikawa, the other hand clutching his stomach as tears rolled down his face.

            ‘I’ve never seen him laugh that hard in all the time I’ve known him,’ Daichi commented, incredulous, before bursting into laughter himself, Suga seconds behind. Oikawa stopped dead at the sound, hands poised to slap himself on the forehead again, and looked up at Iwaizumi. Suga’s and Daichi’s fell silent instantly when they saw the death glare he was shooting at the still laughing man.

            ‘Quick,’ Suga hissed, pushing at Daichi’s back, ‘let’s go.’

            ‘Wh-what?’ Daichi yelped in surprise as Suga ushered him through the trees and away from the other two, one hand clamped over his mouth in an attempt to reign in his giggling.

            ‘Why are we running?’ panted Daichi as they dodged through the foliage, at last emerging back on the sandy shore of the small island. The two men slowed to a stop and hunched over, gasping for breath more from laughing than running.

            ‘Oikawa,’ Suga huffed, ‘when he gets mad, he does this, this _look_ ,’ Suga straightened up, ‘like, his eyes go all wide and scary. You don’t want to be the person on the receiving end.’

Daichi raised his eyebrows and glanced briefly back towards the trees.

            ‘Really?’

            ‘Yeah, looks like he just killed a man or something.’

Suga raised his arms above his head and stretched, before dropping them back down to his sides. Half a minute later, Daichi looked back towards the trees and nudged Suga, who turned around to see Oikawa and Iwaizumi emerging from the trees. Iwazumi was very obviously still holding back laughter.

            ‘Hm?’ Suga hummed when he caught sight of Oikawa’s face. Instead of the expected grumpy pout, Oikawa was almost smiling. On their way down the shoreline, Iwaizumi said something and slapped Oikawa on the back before chuckling again, and Suga grinned at the blush that appeared on his friend’s cheeks.

            ‘Hey Daichi,’ he said, ‘I think this’d be a great time to get that ice cream you were on about.’

Daichi whipped round to look at Suga, a huge smile spreading across his face. _Oh my God,_ thought Suga, _he’s such a child,_ and couldn’t help the mirroring grin that appeared on his own.

 

They managed to reach the edge of the lake and return the boat without capsizing, drowning, or throwing Oikawa overboard, and all piled into the little ice cream shop like a group of excited children. After Daichi changed his mind three times and Iwaizumi almost shoved a cone up Oikawa’s nose by accident, the four finally crammed onto a rickety wooden picnic bench outside and fell silent. Suga was crushed up against Daichi, which he didn’t mind at all. Daichi’s thigh moved against his own and he felt goosebumps erupt across his skin all the way up to his neck. He shivered slightly.

            ‘You know,’ said Daichi, noticing, ‘you could have had a hot chocolate or something if you were cold.’

            ‘No, it’s fine,’ Suga smiled, before taking a bite out of his ice cream. He’d gone for strawberry even if Oikawa had called him boring.

            ‘Did you really just _bite_ your ice cream?’ It was Iwaizumi, watching him with a disgusted frown from across the table.

            ‘Yeah,’ Suga shrugged, and did it again on purpose. Iwaizumi shuddered and went back to his scoop of mint chocolate.

            ‘You’re a monster,’ he muttered. Suga laughed.

The four sat quietly at the little table until everyone had finished and Oikawa was wiping the remains of his triple chocolate and vanilla with extra sprinkles and four different kinds of sauce from around his mouth.

            ‘I pity your digestive system after that,’ commented Suga as Oikawa crunched on the last piece of cone.

            ‘I have no regrets,’ he announced proudly, before standing and brushing the crumbs from his t-shirt.

            ‘We’re all well aware,’ sighed Iwaizumi as he untangled himself from the bench. Suga heard Daichi splutter and sniggered when he saw the angry pout back on Oikawa’s face.

            Gradually, they made their way back across the car park towards the bikes. Suga lagged behind the others slightly, dragging his feet along the gravel. He lifted a hand to his face and ran a finger gently over his lips. The memory of the kiss felt almost like a dream, but then Suga saw again how the sunlight had glittered softly across Daichi’s skin, and lit up the usually dark roots of his hair. Surely a dream couldn’t be that clear. He looked up to see Daichi watching him, face red, and dropped his hand quickly. The two exchanged shy smiles and Suga felt a strange tugging sensation in his chest at the sight. As Daichi looked away, Suga looked left over the lake. The sun would be setting soon, he thought, and was struck with an idea.

            ‘Daichi,’ he called. Daichi stopped and turned around, quickly followed by Iwaizumi and Oikawa.

            ‘Yeah?’

            ‘Before we go home, uh, can we take a detour?’

Daichi frowned, ‘sure, but where?’

            ‘Ooh Suga!’ cooed Oikawa, he raised his eyebrows a few times and looked pointedly in Daichi’s direction, ‘what’re you planning?’

            ‘None of your business.’ Oikawa smirked and opened his mouth to speak but Suga cut him off before he could utter a word.

            ‘Shut up or I’ll tell Iwaizumi to push you off the bike two miles from town.’

Oikawa gasped theatrically, ‘Iwa-chan would never do tha-‘

            ‘I would.’ Iwaizumi looked at Oikawa with such intensity that Suga wasn’t certain whether he was joking or not.  There was a tense pause before Iwaizumi sighed and continued walking. ‘Come on, leave them be,’ he said to Oikawa, ‘I’ll see you later Daichi, Suga.’ He nodded at them both before walking over to his bike and pulling his helmet on. Oikawa watched him go for a moment before turning back to Suga and Daichi.

            ‘Well, have fun you two.’ He winked before jogging over to Iwaizumi and climbing onto the bike behind him. Suga and Daichi watched as the two men zoomed out of the park entrance and off down the road. There was silence for a few seconds.

            ‘So,’ Daichi asked after a moment, ‘where is it you wanted to go?’

 

* * *

 

            ‘It’s your next left!’ Suga yelled over the roar of the bike, tapping Daichi on the left arm and pointing to a small dirt track off the road. Daichi nodded and slowed down, veering left onto the path. By now the sun had started to set, and the trees lining the sides of the path were speckled orange with the dying light. Suga looked up at the amber clouds and thought he caught a glimpse of the stars beginning to show through in the evening sky. The bike jolted harshly along the track and Suga gripped tighter around Daichi’s waist as it began to steepen.

            ‘How far does this track go?’ Daichi shouted over his shoulder, voice muffled through the helmet. The trees rushed past them in a blur of green and brown, and Suga thought back to the last time he’d visited. Back before he’d started work at the clinic, before he’d adopted Sooty. He wasn’t sure if the path would still be cleared enough to get there after so long.

            ‘It shouldn’t be too far now!’

The bike rounded another corner and a towering oak tree came into view.

            ‘Here! Stop here!’ Suga shouted, and immediately felt the bike slow down, finally rolling to a halt. The two men pulled off their helmets and looked around.

            ‘Where are we supposed to be?’ Daichi turned around in his seat. Suga got off the bike and jogged up to the trunk of the huge tree. He ran his hands over the bark until his fingertip caught in a small groove. On closer inspection he discovered it to be a small, clumsily chiselled arrow pointing right.

            ‘Yeah this is definitely it,’ he turned back to Daichi and smiled, ‘come on!’

            ‘Wha- I can’t just leave the bike here!’ Daichi said, but Suga had already started up the path. Daichi looked around and huffed before slipping off the bike and  wheeling it into the bushes, concealing it best be could before running after Suga.

            The two men hurried through the bushes and trees, jogging upbank in the fading daylight. Suga felt the burn in his calves from the climb but pushed on nonetheless. He heard Daichi following close behind and a laugh of joy escaped his throat before he could stop it.

            ‘Suga!’ Daichi gasped, ‘how much… longer, till… we get there?’

            ‘It should be around… here!’

Suga sprinted up the final part of the hill before abruptly emerging onto a small grassy embankment. He breathed out in a rush. The awe of the sight before him felt like a punch to the chest, and he took it in greedily.

            They were standing atop a hill, the treetops below almost level with their feet, and spread out for miles in front was the sprawling maze of lights that made up the town. The sun was falling slowly down behind the misty horizon and as it fell, it dropped its light across the landscape below in random spatterings of orange and amber. The sight seemed to fill Suga’s chest with something electric, he felt as though he could feel the dying light on his skin, warming him with its sheer beauty rather than the heat. He closed his eyes and smiled wide, not hearing Daichi join him until he felt two arms encircle his waist from behind.

            ‘It’s beautiful, don’t you think?’ Suga asked quietly, leaning his head back on Daichi’s shoulder. He opened his eyes and looked up to see Daichi taking in the view silently.

            ‘It’s perfect,’ he said, and looked down. Suga could see the last light of the sun reflecting in his brown eyes. They studied each other as the sun finally slid down behind the town lights in the distance, watching the shadows dance across each other’s skin, until at last Suga reached up a hand and pulled Daichi’s face down the few centimetres he needed in order to press their lips together again. Perfect indeed.


	14. Chapter 14

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I apologise for this being so short! I just wanted to update asap now that I'm back home. I'm already working on the next chapter, though I think I'll be wrapping this fic up soon. As always, I hope you enjoy, and thank you for reading!

Over the next few weeks Suga saw very little of Daichi.

            ‘The company picked up a new client,’ Daichi had explained over the phone one night while Suga lay in bed, a forgotten book resting on the pillow next to his head. ‘Iwaizumi’s ripping his hair out, the time we’ve been given just isn’t enough.’

‘Mmh,’ hummed Suga as Daichi yawned loudly on the other end, ‘are you still coming over at the weekend? I got a new film the other day that I think you’d like.’

‘Ah,’ Daichi paused, ‘I, um, I’m not going to be able to, sorry Suga, I’m at the office until nine every night as it is.’

Suga felt the smile slip from his face, and tried to keep the disappointment from his voice when he replied. ‘Oh, okay, no that’s… don’t worry about it. There’s always another day.’

            ‘Sorry Suga, I really am,’ Daichi sighed again, before another yawn took him, ‘I’m going to have to go, there’s a meeting at eight tomorrow morning and I still haven’t finished my presentation.’

Suga turned onto his side, crushing the phone between his ear and the pillow, ‘Yeah, okay. I’ll text you when I’m on my break then.’

            ‘Yeah…’ Daichi went quiet for a moment, ‘hey, Suga?’ There was a slight hesitation in his voice, as though he was about to ask something important. Suga shifted onto his front and leaned up on his elbows.

            ‘Hm?’

            ‘I…’ he paused again, but seemed to rethink whatever he was about to say, ‘I’ll talk to you tomorrow.’ Suga frowned, that was strange.

            ‘Okay, get a good sleep at least.’

            ‘I will, night, Suga.’

            ‘Goodnight, Daichi.’

There was a click and sudden silence. Suga’s room seemed much emptier than before as he rolled onto his back and stared at the ceiling. Something definitely felt off. Hopefully it was just from overwork, but Daichi didn’t seem as upbeat as usual. Suga sighed through his nose and drew the blanket up to his chin before drifting off with an unpleasant sensation in the pit of his stomach.

 

            At work the next day Suga was restless. He checked his patient list eight times in the space of half an hour, spent all the change in his wallet on weak coffee from the vending machine, and opened his inbox every two minutes. His lunch break came and went, and his incoming message folder remained empty. Daichi _always_ spoke to him at work. Suga ran a hand through his hair and leaned back, the leather of the chair squeaking in protest. He’d been fine before the kiss. Well, kisses. And what was with the hesitation in last night’s phone call? Suga sat up and resigned himself to the last course of action anyone should take when seeking love-life advice. He messaged Oikawa.

**13:45**

**To: Oikawa**

**I think I made a mistake.**

Suga pressed send and dropped the phone onto his desk before leaning forward onto the desk and resting his head on his arms. Not a minute later his phone started buzzing repeatedly against the wood. Suga reached out and picked it up, glancing at the screen briefly before pressing the call button and holding it to his ear.

            ‘…do you mean ‘mistake?' I thought everything was lovey dovey and sickening?’ Oikawa was rambling before Suga had even said a word.

            ‘Well, it is… I think.’ Suga could practically hear Oikawa’s frown.

            ‘What do you mean, you _‘think_.’

Suga huffed and fiddled with a pen from his pocket. ‘It’s just, have you heard from Iwaizumi lately?’

            ‘Iwa-chan?’ Oikawa sounded surprised. ‘Yeah, we talk all the time,’ his voice lowered into a childish sulking voice, ‘he always says I talk too much though.’

            ‘Oh.’ Suga’s voice was small. On hearing this Oikawa’s voice lost the teasing edge.

            ‘Suga, what happened?’

Suga told him about the strange phone call, his empty inbox, and the general lack of Daichi in the past couple of weeks.

            ‘He says it’s because he’s busy at work, but he works with Iwaizumi, and if he’s still speaking to you all the time then… then that’s not right is it?’

            ‘Suga,’ Oikawa began, but Suga cut him off.

            ‘I just think, perhaps the kiss scared him off, was it too soon? I thought he was into it, you know?’ Suga groaned in frustration, and yelped in surprise as Oikawa began to scream down the phone.

            ‘I  _knew_ it!’ he shrieked, ‘Iwa-chan owes me three pizzas, _ha_!’

Suga went still. ‘You _made a bet,_ on whether we’d kiss or not?’

Oikawa seemed to sense the quiet anger in Suga’s voice and fell silent.

            ‘Well, uh, when you two disappeared into the trees for ages and didn’t come home for a while after, we kind of assumed, you know?’ He sounded meek, but Suga didn’t have the heart to stay mad.

            ‘I can’t believe it,’ he muttered.

            ‘You’re seeing him tomorrow anyway, aren’t you?’

            ‘What do you mean?’ Suga frowned.

            ‘He’s got an appointment?’ Oikawa laughed. ‘Aren’t you supposed to be the therapist?

Suga grabbed his folder and flipped to the scheduled appointments for the next day. Daichi’s name was typed neatly next to the 15:30 slot. ‘Oh.’

            ‘And you call me dim.’ Oikawa sighed. Anyway, I’m sure it’s nothing bad, just ask him if everything’s okay tomorrow. I’ve got to go anyway, this article still needs editing.

            ‘Yeah, alright, I’ll see you later then.’

            ‘Bye Suga!’

Suga stared at Daichi’s name on the paper long after the line had gone dead. Maybe he _was_ overreacting. Work had taken over his own life in the past, it happened to everyone from time to time. Daichi probably was just tired. Suga tucked his phone back into his pocket and pressed the button to call the next patient. Tomorrow would come soon enough.

 

            ‘What do you mean, cancelled?’ Suga leaned over the reception desk at closing time and looked at Kiyoko’s computer screen.

            ‘I mean what I said,’ she looked up at him, puzzled, ‘you’ve had a cancellation on one of tomorrow’s appointments, Sawamura Daichi.’

Suga felt the information hit him squarely in the chest like a punch. The air rushed from his lungs and he gripped onto the countertop for support.

            ‘Suga, is everything alright?’ Kiyoko was frowning, focus flitting back and forth between the name on the screen and Suga’s face. ‘Is he, do you know him or something?’

Suga said nothing and tried to hold back the tears that had begun to gather.

            ‘You… you know I won’t say anything but, well you know the rules concerning patients. Is everything okay?’

Suga of course knew the rules about patient relations. No family members, partners, or close friends. Company policy. Everyone knew that.

            ‘Y-yeah, it’s… it’s fine. I just, I don’t feel too well. Yeah…’ he trailed off.

Kiyoko sighed and closed the computer document. She leaned forward and took Suga’s trembling hands in her own.

            ‘Go home, have a good meal, get some sleep. You’ll be your usual self tomorrow I’m sure.’

Suga nodded even though he didn’t believe her, he knew she was only trying to help.

            ‘Yeah, o-okay. I’ll see you tomorrow.’ He pulled his hands gently from her grasp and left the practice in a daze.

 

            The walk home seemed only seconds long. When Suga arrived at his front door he couldn’t even remember walking up the stairs. The only thing in his head was the knowledge that Daichi had cancelled. Cancelled and not even thought to let Suga know. Had he really messed up so badly that the man no longer wanted to see him? Suga fumbled with his keys and unlocked the door shakily. Once inside, Suga didn’t even turn on the lights. He closed the door softly behind him and leaned against it. What had he _done?_  Suga slid slowly down the polished wood and landed on the welcome mat with a soft thud. The flat was silent, and the absence of Oikawa’s shoes proved that he was still out at work. Or with Iwaizumi. Suga pulled his phone from his pocket and squinted at the brightness of the screen. The ‘no new messages’ notification seemed all the harsher in the dark corridor, and he let his phone drop to the floor just as the first tear dripped off the end of his chin.

_What had he done?_


	15. Chapter 15

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay, I'm pretty sure the chapter after this will be the last. A lot of thought went into this one, and I'm still not sure if I'm happy with it or not but if I leave it any longer I'll never post it soooo I hope you enjoy and thank you for reading :)

In the end, it was Oikawa who moved Suga from his spot by the door. At half past seven that evening Suga was awoken by a loud crash and an immediate pain in the back of his skull.

            ‘What the-‘ came a confused voice from the other side of the door. Suga groaned and sat up, rubbing the back of his head and wincing. Slowly, the door edged open and Suga shuffled back to let Oikawa into the flat.

            ‘What are you doing behind the door?’ he asked, frowning, as soon as he’d squeezed through the gap and pushed it closed behind him.

            ‘Fell ‘sleep,’ Suga muttered, refusing to meet his friend’s eyes.

            ‘You _fell asleep_ , in the _hallway?_ ’ Oikawa raised an eyebrow before kicking off his shoes and kneeling down in front of Suga.

            ‘Last I checked, your bedroom was first on the right, what-‘ Suga looked up and Oikawa stopped. His eyes were still red from crying and his hair was ruffled up on one side where he’d been lying on the carpet. ‘Oh,’ he said, ‘Daichi?’

            ‘Mhm.’ Suga looked away again.

            ‘Come here.’ Oikawa stood up, extended a hand towards Suga, and pulled the other man to his feet. ‘Go sit down, I’ll make us a drink.’ He regarded Suga with a serious expression, ‘then you talk, yeah?’

            ‘Yeah,’ Suga sighed, ‘okay.’

 

Ten minutes later Suga was curled up on the sofa with a hot chocolate and a handful of tissues. Oikawa plopped down on the opposite side and huffed through his nose. Sooty poked her nose through the door briefly but seemed to sense the tense atmosphere and continued down the hall instead. The room was silent but for the rhythmic ticking of the clock next to the television, and the distant sound of traffic from outside. They sat like this for half a minute before Oikawa stretched out a leg and poked Suga’s knee with his foot.

            ‘What happened?’

Suga sighed into his mug and picked at a loose thread on his trousers before speaking.

            ‘I don’t think Daichi wants to see me anymore.’

The silence returned, heavier than before. Oikawa leaned his head on the back of the sofa and frowned.

            ‘Why not?’

            ‘I-‘ Suga took a deep breath, ‘I think I scared him off.’

Oikawa snorted, but the laughter died in his throat when Suga looked up and _glared_ at him.

            ‘I knew you wouldn’t take it seriously,’ he set his mug down on the coffee table and stood up.

            ‘W-wait! Suga!’ Oikawa stood too and held out his arms to stop Suga from leaving the room. ‘I’m sorry, I am, it’s just, _why_ would you think that?’

Suga looked pointedly away and crossed his arms.

            ‘I don’t know,’ he spat, ‘maybe because he hasn’t said a word to me since the day I actually got brave enough to kiss him, maybe because he’s cancelled his appointments at work and not even told me,’ Suga’s voice cracked and he looked back at Oikawa, ‘what did I do wrong?’

            ‘Iwa-chan says they have been really busy at work,’ Oikawa tried.

            ‘So I’ve heard, but he could at least text, right?’ Suga sniffed and turned away to wipe his eyes. ‘It makes me think, you know, maybe he wasn’t being honest when he said he wanted me around, maybe he was just, I don’t know, scared?’

Oikawa picked at his sleeve and bit his lip, ‘just, ask him about it? I mean,’ he faltered under Suga’s frown, ‘it might just be a misunderstanding. I’ll call Iwa-chan and-’

            ‘No!’ Suga ran a hand down his face and groaned, ‘no, I need to sort this out myself.’

There was silence again, broken this time by Suga’s uneasy breaths and intermittent sniffs. ‘I’m going to bed,’ he said at last, ‘I’ll see you in the morning.’ The two looked at each other and Oikawa smiled sympathetically. He patted Suga on the shoulder as he passed, though the moment he heard Suga’s bedroom door click shut, the smile fell into a frown and he pulled his phone from his pocket.

            _‘Hello?’_

            ‘Iwa-chan I’m coming over.’

            _‘What? You idiot, it’s late, go to bed.’_

            ‘I’ll see you in fifteen.’

            _‘What the fu-‘_

Oikawa pressed end call and walked back into the hallway. He slipped his shoes back on as quietly as he could and pulled open the door. There was a quiet meow from behind him and he turned to see Sooty watching, interested. He pressed a finger to his lips, ‘shhh, I’ll be back soon,’ before closing the door behind him.

 

Suga swore he couldn’t have been sleeping for longer than an hour when he was woken by knocking from the front door. He grumbled and pushed the sheets to one side before standing. Another knock sounded as he stifled a yawn and looked blearily about for his t-shirt. He found it lying in a crumpled heap at the foot of his bed, and pulled it on without a thought. Yawning again he pulled open his bedroom door and shuffled off down the hallway. Suga dragged back the latch and opened the door slowly.

            ‘Oikawa I swear to god if you forgot your key again I’m-‘

Suga stopped. It wasn’t Oikawa.

            ‘Um, hi Suga,’ Daichi said.

Suga blinked and started to push the door closed. He didn’t want to have to deal with this right now, his head hurt, he was tired, and the last person he wanted to see was the cause of his miserable state.

            ‘Suga wait.’ Daichi pushed slightly against the door, preventing Suga from shutting it. ‘Just, hear me out, please?’

Suga sighed heavily and moved aside so Daichi could step into the hallway. The door closed with a soft click and a suffocating silence fell over the two men.

            ‘Oikawa came over and-‘ Daichi started, but Suga cut him off.

            ‘I guessed.’

The silence returned even heavier than before, and Daichi began to fiddle with the hem of his jacket.

            ‘He told me, um, how upset you were,’ Daichi took a step closer to Suga but Suga flinched and moved back slightly. Daichi looked away and rubbed a hand over his face.

            ‘Suga, I’m sorry, I really am, it’s just,’ he paused again, ‘we’ve had so much going on at work, I’ve barely had time to think.’

            ‘You could have at least text, you know?’ Suga looked up at him. ‘I’ve heard almost nothing from you since the weekend.’

            ‘I know, I should have let you know, but-‘

Daichi stepped closer again, though this time Suga mirrored him, standing so they were only inches apart. He lay a hand flat against Daichi’s chest and pushed slightly.

            ‘Just get it over with, tell me what you came here to tell me, that you don’t want to see me anymore,’ Suga’s voice cracked on the last word.

            ‘Suga, what do you mean?’ Daichi reached out for him but Suga backed away until he hit the doorframe of the living room. ‘Why would you think that?’ His own voice was wavering now, and Suga felt something tug in his chest even through all the anger.

            ‘You haven’t called, text, anything,’ Suga could feel the tears gathering but refused to let them fall, ‘you cancelled an appointment at work with no reason and didn’t even think to tell me about it. What was I supposed to think?’ He sniffed, and Daichi looked down at the floor. ‘Since that day at the lake you’ve barely spoken to me, if you don’t want to see me anymore just say!’ Suga drew in a shaky breath and let it out slowly before looking back up at Daichi. ‘Just, before you do, tell me why, please?’ Suga felt the first tear drip gently down his face. ‘If I moved too quickly for you, if it’s not what you wanted, I don’t know. Just tell me why.’

            ‘I…’ Daichi began, then stopped. He paused for half a minute before speaking again. ‘Suga, I… I didn’t mean to hurt you and I’m sorry. God, I’m _so_ sorry.’ He stopped again and looked up at Suga, though the other man refused to meet his eyes. ‘I should have made time to talk with you, I know I should, that… that was my mistake and I’m sorry.’ He ran a hand through his hair and huffed out a breath through his nose. ‘I _do_ want to see you, Suga. I, _God_ I want to see you all the time.’

            ‘Then why push me away?’ Suga sobbed.

            ‘I didn’t want to, I didn’t mean to,’ Daichi was almost pleading with Suga now, ‘I’m so sorry I made you think I didn’t want to see you anymore, that’s not true at all.’

There was quiet again, disturbed only by Suga’s gentle sobs and Daichi fidgeting where he stood.

            ‘Why didn’t you tell me you were cancelling your appointment?’ Suga asked finally.

            ‘I had to after my boss told me to lead a presentation on that afternoon, I should have told you, I know I should have.’ Daichi looked torn. ‘I know it’s not an excuse but I was so tired from all the overtime that I didn’t even think. You don’t have to forgive me Suga but I really am truly sorry for hurting you.’

Suga sniffed and rubbed at his eyes slowly. Daichi continued to pick at his jacket and look anywhere but Suga’s face.

            ‘Okay,’ Suga whispered after a long moment. Daichi looked up, startled. ‘Okay, I forgive you.’

Daichi let out a breath of relief and reached out to Suga, who this time didn’t move away.

            ‘Just,’ Suga muttered, ‘don’t do it again.’

            ‘I won’t, I promise,’ Daichi’s words fell from his mouth in a rush, ‘I’ll never make you feel that way again, I promise.’

            Suga nodded and grabbed onto the other man’s shirt, pulling him in close. Daichi almost fell into Suga, wrapping his arms around his back and holding him to his chest so tightly it was almost painful. He pressed a hand against the back of Suga’s neck and rested his face in silvery hair. Suga could hear Daichi whispering ‘I’m sorry, I’m so sorry,’ over and over again, and felt a weak smile slowly start to take over his face. He wrapped his own arms around Daichi and pressed his face into the man’s chest. They stood in that position for a long time, neither wanting to let go of the other, just happy to hold and be held again.

           

It was much later when Suga remembered the phone call and Daichi’s strange hesitation. They were lying on Suga’s bed, as close as they could possibly get. Daichi was rubbing circles around Suga’s lower back and he could feel his eyes growing heavier by the second. Oikawa had not yet returned, leading Suga to believe he was spending the night at Iwaizumi’s. He shifted back a little and looked up at Daichi.

            ‘What were you going to say?’

            ‘Hmm?’ Daichi’s hand stilled.

            ‘On the phone the other night. You were about to say something. What was it?’

Daichi shuffled back too and dragged his hand across Suga’s spine to rest on the other man’s waist.

            ‘Oh.’ Suga felt the hand on his waist tighten slightly. ‘I’d gone into the practice to see about changing my appointments to earlier times, I was thinking I could come in my lunch break instead, with all the overtime it made more sense.’

            ‘Hmm.’ Suga reached down and pulled Daichi’s hand from his him, bringing them both up to rest on the pillow and intertwining their fingers.

            ‘I was waiting by the reception desk for the woman in front of me to finish. I could hear what she was saying, she sounded angry, almost. Something about how she wanted to see a specific therapist, but the lady at the desk said she couldn’t.’

Suga ran his thumb over Daichi’s knuckles and waited for him to continue.

            ‘She said she couldn’t book her an appointment with a relative.’

Suga’s thumb stopped moving, he knew what Daichi was about to say.

            ‘She said it’s company policy, you’re not allowed to be seen by someone you’re close to, medical reasons, which I guess makes sense. I was going to ask because… does that mean I won’t be able to have appointments with you anymore?’

Suga let go of Daichi’s hand and turned onto his front before leaning up on his elbows.

            ‘Yeah, if we, you know,’ he looked down at the bed sheet and traced the patterns in the fabric idly with a finger, ‘make it official.’ A beat, and then,

            ‘Do you want to?’

Suga looked down at Daichi and leaned his chin on a hand. He nodded, then blushed furiously.

            ‘I-I mean, only if you want to, too.’

Daichi grinned, wide and happy, and Suga couldn’t help the mirroring smile that forced its way onto his own face.

            ‘I guess I won’t be seeing you at work anymore then,’ Suga said, though there was no trace of regret in his voice.

            ‘I suppose not,’ chuckled Daichi, ‘but I’m guessing you’re not opposed to going for a drive afterwards, when all this overtime is done with?’ Daichi reached up and tucked a strand of hair behind Suga’s ear. ‘The rules don’t say anything about the car park, do they?’ he joked.

            ‘Don’t be stupid,’ Suga laughed, and held onto Daichi’s hand, leaning into it slightly as they smiled at each other. ‘I look forward to it.’

Daichi pulled him down into a kiss, albeit a brief one, as neither man could stop the silly giggles that continued to bubble out of their mouths. Suga ran both hands through the hair either side of Daichi’s face, and Daichi trailed his fingers up and down Suga’s spine as their mouths met again and again. Soft light from the lamps outside filtered in through the gaps in Suga’s window blinds and brushed their skin with tiny spatterings of orange and yellow. They lost themselves in gentle touches and soft breathes, and when their eyes met for the last time before sleep took them, Suga wanted nothing other than to wake up to those eyes every coming morning for the rest of his life.


	16. Epilogue

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> First of all... I'm so sorry this took so long to get out!!! ...and it's really really short, I'm sorry about that too :/  
> Full time jobs and broken computers don't go well together when you're trying to write something ಥ_ಥ
> 
> Anyway! I want to say how thankful I am for all the people who've stuck with this little story, your comments and kudos mean to world to me, I only kept going because of all of you so yeah, thank you so much! I can't believe I finally got to the end!
> 
> I hope you like this last chapter, and as always, enjoy, and thank you for reading!!!

‘If I ever see another box again I think I will honestly set something on fire.’

Suga placed the last cardboard box next to the pile of others in the bare living room and dropped to the floor with a groan. Next to him, Daichi stretched and yawned loudly before chuckling.

            ‘We’ve still got to unpack all these yet you know,’ he gestured at the piles of their belongings scattered about the otherwise empty room. It was something they’d been talking about for months – getting a place together, and with Oikawa and Iwaizumi finally admitting that yes, they were actually a thing now, even though Suga ensured them that everyone already knew, the opportunity had come up. It was smaller than the apartment Suga had shared with Oikawa – one bedroom, attached kitchen and living area, but it suited them just fine.

            ‘No.’ Suga huffed and lay back onto the carpet. ‘I’m not moving for at least twenty-five minutes.’

Daichi laughed again and sat down next to Suga, facing him. He crossed his legs and leaned forward on his elbows, raising an eyebrow at the man lying in front of him.

            ‘Is that so?’ he asked, amusement evident in his voice.

            ‘Yes,’ Suga said simply, before closing his eyes.

Daichi waited for a moment before slowly reaching out and sliding a hand under the fabric of Suga’s shirt. Suga’s eyes snapped open just before Daichi prodded him just above his hip. Suga shrieked and batted Daichi’s hand away.

            ‘Daichi!’ he yelled, as the other man started to laugh heartily. ‘I told you about that in confidence! You weren’t supposed to use it against me!’ Suga sat up and huffed in mock annoyance.

            ‘Suga,’ Daichi said once he’d calmed down, ‘do you honestly think I’m _not_ going to use it against you if you tell me where you’re most ticklish?’

Suga raised an eyebrow.

            ‘You do realise that you also took part in this exchange of confidence, remember?’

Daichi paled at the mischievous look that had suddenly bloomed on Suga’s face, and started to back away.

            ‘I take it back,’ he said hurriedly, ‘I’m sorry, I-I’ll change the litter tray for a week, I swear.’ He continued to back away until he hit one of the boxes and stopped. Suga however, kept advancing until he was right in front of Daichi.

            ‘Nope.’ Suga grinned and crawled towards the other man until he was sitting on Daichi’s knees.

            ‘Suga noooo.’ Daichi whined, but Suga ignored him. In one swift movement, he reached out and slid his hands under Daichi’s shirt, stopping at the edge of his ribs. Daichi gave him one last pleading look before Suga started to prod him mercilessly.

            ‘Revenge!’ Suga cried as Daichi double over with laughter, trying repeatedly to push Suga’s hands away and failing.

            ‘Aha, Suga, st-aha, stop! I give in!’ Daichi was giggling uncontrollably, still attempting to push Suga out of his lap.

            ‘Never,’ Suga laughed as he continued the attack.

Eventually, Daichi summoned his last bit of strength and grabbed Suga’s wrists, holding them up into the air.

            ‘Ha,’ he panted, ‘got you.’

The two looked at each other for a moment, still giggling and trying to get their breath back. Daichi huffed loudly and smiled warmly up at Suga. Slowly, he let go of his wrists and slid his hands down the smooth skin of his arms. Suga gave him a questioning look as he trailed his fingers up across Suga’s shoulders and around to the back of his neck. Suga lowered his arms and placed them across Daichi’s shoulders. He leaned forward until his forehead was pressed against Daichi’s, then moved closer still, brushing past Daichi’s cheek and leaning his head on his shoulder. He breathed in deeply and sighed as Daichi ran a hand through his hair in comforting motions. The slow, steady movements of his boyfriend’s chest as he breathed relaxed Suga, and he soon found his eyes slipping closed.  

            ‘Suga?’ Daichi said, after some time.

            ‘Hmm?’

When there was no response, Suga back up and looked at Daichi, walking his fingers through the shorter hair on the sides of Daichi’s head.

            ‘What’s the matter?’

Daichi looked down and dropped both hands to Suga’s thighs. He seemed to think about something for a moment, before meeting the other man’s gaze and smiling so warmly Suga though something in his chest might burst.

            ‘I just,’ he breathed in deeply, then let it out in a rush, ‘I just really, really love you.’

Suga breathed out a little ‘oh,’ and buried his head back into Daichi’s shoulders. He felt the other man chuckle and warm hands rest heavily on his back.

            ‘I just had to say it, it’s too much to keep in.’

Suga turned his head and felt the warm skin of Daichi’s neck against his lips.

            ‘Daichi?’ he said against his skin. He felt Daichi shudder slightly.

            ‘Yeah?’

            ‘I really, really love you too.’

**Author's Note:**

> Ok, this is my first time writing something like this, so comments are always very much appreciated, thanks for reading!
> 
> My tumblr is [little-frog](http://little-frog.tumblr.com/) if anyone would like to talk to me :)


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